Of Pianos and Cupcakes
by Live.Write.Love01
Summary: When something horrid alters Cat's life dramatically, changing her, Andre is determined to get the old Cat back. Will he end up falling in love with her while trying? Candre, Bade; Post IParty With Victorious.
1. Parties and Giraffe's

_**Chapter One**__  
>Parties and Giraffe's<em>

The night was going, after the Panda had been (finally) escorted from Keenan Thompson's house, fortunately very well and swimmingly. It was nearing midnight by now, the large mansion upon the hill shielded from neighbors and most importantly, cops, and the alcohol had made its sudden, but not unexpected, appearance quarter past eleven. He couldn't say he was exactly happy with the amount of drug abusers within the house but he did nothing to stop it; what could he? This "small" party was edging out of control rather quickly, but he, sober, knew just how to handle it if it had gotten too bad. Well, he had hoped he did; he knew he could rely on Tori, the only one that was not drowning herself in alcohol as far as he was concerned, to come to his aid if he had needed it. She always did, and it was one of those great traits he always looked for in a girl.

Beck and Jade had disappeared upstairs sometime ago, each so drunk and out of their minds that they stumbled over their own feet, and nearly fell _up _the stairwell. Andre Harris had shaken his head whilst watching the two with his own cup of gin within his palms, though untouched except for a small sip or two – he didn't exactly want to know what was happening wherever they were, but he was sure, knowing Beck, he was going to hear about it sometime later on; whether it be the next day, or after that. Robbie had gone home, alongside a complaining Rex about the Northridge girls, claiming that the party was severely out of hand and also, though he had hoped he heard wrong, that it was far passed his bed time and he needed to get home straight away before "mother stops packing me Cream of Mushroom soup" for lunch.

Andre had of course, glanced at the scrawny, outlandish boy before making his way to find Tori, whom he had later discovered was still soberly talking with the ICarly crew he was honored to have here, in a room that was not occupied by any drunken party-goers. They all seemed to be animatedly talking about something he wasn't aware of (he swore he heard the name "Stephan" in there once or twice), and he hadn't wanted to interrupt them, especially since he was still angry about the entire incident himself.

So that, out of his entire group of friends, left Cat.

Of course, once or twice he had gotten to talk to the once mute girl, but the last time he had seen her was when they had all sung the mash up song with the ICarly web show gang, and he had figured she had gone home before the alcoholism around the large house in which the party was residing had gotten a little too crazy for her own good, just like Robbie had. But regardless, just in case she hadn't, he decided to look around for her, glad that if he had indeed found her he wouldn't have to listen to that god forsaken robotic voice of a headband she had worn around her head; he didn't think he had the patience to wait that long for a response, spoken by a Speechy Keen App upon the PearPhone.

If he was being quite honest with himself, he hadn't spent much time around Cat as he used to; all things considered, they were close friends with a strong bond between them, but it had seemed that ever since Tori had come to Hollywood Arts (nothing against her; he always did have the slightest crush on the skinny Latina) they had drifted apart. Sure, they had had their times around each other outside of school grounds, but there was nothing too it anymore, and still being honest with himself as he searched the perimeter of the large house, turning corners and looking into separate rooms, he had missed that.

Finally, after what had seemed like hours but in reality was only five minutes, he had found the girl he was searching for upon the balcony, by herself with one leg crossed slightly over the other. He damned the short shorts she had been wearing; it made it extremely hard not to stare at her legs like any other man would surely do, and he didn't exactly like thinking those types of things about his friend, who happened to be a girl, and was extremely attractive in multiple ways.

"Hey, why aren't you inside Little Red?" Andre asked cautiously as he neared the fragile, petite girl leaning against the railing of the balcony with a red, opaque cup within her hand. He stepped towards her as though he was walking on glass or stepping upon scattered egg shells, like most people had when the approached the emotionally vulnerable and out-of-control girl who happened to be too short for the average teenager – he liked that about her though, how she was so tiny; he couldn't imagine her any taller, otherwise her personality, he concluded, would not fit her as well as it had now.

"Oh, hey Andre!" She squeaked, and he automatically furrowed his brow; her voice, just an hour after they had all sung the mash up of Leave It All to Me and Make It Shine with the iCarly trio within the house, had sounded just as bad as it had when Sikowitz announced she had vocal nodules during class not even two days ago, and, he decided, it seemed even worse. Cat frowned at him and slumped her shoulders, rapidly turning away as if she was embarrassed by her illness, as if it was a sin. He could only wonder what had happened; perhaps because she had sung the song her voice had gotten worse, to the point where he could barely hear a word she had said, otherwise he could not come up with a possible conclusion as to why it had gone from normal and back again.

"Is there something wrong with your voice again? I thought it was better" He inquired as he finally came to a halt beside her, resting his elbows upon the railing and leaning against it, her shoulder barely brushing his lower bicep. There was a strong aurora of smoke about her, and he couldn't help but wonder why. _It's probably just someone else's, _he thought, knowing for a fact that he himself had saw smokers come to the balcony for a drag – and if there was smokers, there was alcohol, which was undoubtedly in her cup as much as it was in his own, only, she had barely taken a sip of hers, probably because it hurt her throat too much, or she really was as innocent as she had seemed.

"Just scratchy I guess; maybe I shouldn't have sang that song…phooey." Cat frowned over at him, the expression rather foreign and a very uncharacteristic thing for her to do, but he shrugged it off; it must have been nothing, after all, her voice had just gone out because of singing such long and high notes that she had, after suffering from Vocal Nodules.

"Maybe it'll get better after you've had something to drink" He suggested with a light shrug, and with a giggle, she gesticulated to the red, cliché plastic cup within her hand, "something not spiked"

"Andre!" She gasped in her hoarse voice, almost dramatically as she looked over at him, glossy lips parted though tugged into a smile, "this _isn't _spiked! It's water!" Almost as to somehow prove her point she tilted the cup at her mouth, taking a large swig of the crystalline beverage. She flashed a beaming smile in his direction once she had swallowed her drink, slightly cocking her head to the side. "I have to drive home, silly. Jadey and Beck are probably already out of it and I'll need to drive them back" She added with a clear of her throat, which was gradually returning back to its normal, soprano octave that was harmony to anybody's ears in whom have encountered it.

"You can drink if you want to though," He said with a shrug, this time gesturing to his own cup, in which rested the beverage he had only taken a few, idle sips of, "but you'd have to get someone sober to give you a ride home so you don't get in trouble."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" She asked with wide, doe brown eyes, naivety crystal clear within each iris.

"Like drunk driving, hitting somebody else or getting pulled over by a cop and arrested for underage drinking" Andre answered with each eyebrow arched, figuring she would already know this. Perhaps she had, but chose to ask him just because she assumed that he known she didn't. "Wouldn't want you to get into another car accident, huh, Little Red?"

Cat snuck an arm around her waist, as if hugging herself with her one free arm, and stared up at him with a horrified expression etching across pretty features and creamy white skin, as if remembering the calamity that had happened when Jade was picking her up from the Mental Ward, "no! No, no, no!"

Andre couldn't help but chuckle at her frantic, worried response and his lips curled upward in a smile. "Exactly," he told her, his gaze turning toward the clear glass doors behind them; conveniently enough, standing upon one of the coffee tables behind the blurring teenagers, knocked off of its feet and laying sideways, was the giraffe that Keenan had given him earlier on during the beginning of the party. He didn't know what else to do with it and so he said "I'll be right back, stay here" to the smiling girl in front of him and made his way through the crowd, dancing and hollering within the hallway. He felt a little lame doing so, but he had grabbed the stuffed animal and gradually made his way back over to her, holding it out as if it was hers to take. And really, he thought, it was. Now.

"Here, you can have this. I don't really want it." He told her with a grin, watching as her eyes lit up and a beaming, Cheshire smile broke out across her face, revealing the dimple within her cheek. She placed her beverage upon the ledge of the balcony, fixed a small box within her pocket, before taking it from his hands.

"Aww, it's so cute!" She squealed with a giggle, hugging it close to her chest. "Thank you Andre! Oh hey, remember when you got me Mr. Longneck at the fair last year?"

"Yeah, I do." Andre replied, still grinning broadly at her reaction; it had seemed eerily similar then, too.

"One time, my brother and I were at the zoo and we were looking at the giraffes and all of the sudden, he decides to climb all the way over the ledge thingy and then climb on its back to try and get all the way up to its neck!" Cat rambled suddenly, still smiling as she hugged the larger giraffe within her arms.

"So…what happened?" He asked her with a furrowed brow; at least, he figured, this Crazy-Older-Brother story was relevant to the situation, unlike the many times before.

"Well the zoo keeper people found out and they started chasing after him! And he fell off of the giraffe and we had to take him to the hospital because he shattered every bone in his right leg!" She pointed at her own in her frantic, occasionally high-pitched toned, incongruous. "And then we were banned from the zoo and we could never go back. It was kind of sad, but you know what's weird? I was –"

"Cat! Cat!" Came a deep voice from behind them, and the two, the shorter girl frowning at the interruption, whirled around, only to find Beck stumbling onto the terrace with Jade literally hanging over his shoulder; his balance unsteady.

"Um…?"

"I thin-k we needta gho home" Beck answered her drunkenly, blinking hesitantly as he stumbled forth once more; Andre had to move over to steady his friend in case he had toppled over, and, if that had happened, so would have Jade – and she didn't chance much when she was intoxicated; an angry drunk and an angry, painfully truthful sober.

"Kay kay!" She called over to him with a partially strained smile; that was however, until she turned over to him. She put the giraffe down and with some difficulty due to her height, stood upon her toes and encircled his neck with her arms, hugging him closely, an embrace in which he wrapped his own arms around her tiny waist and just slightly lifting her up (she only weighed 90 pounds, he had done this many times before). She retracted and lowered herself, pressing her lips to his cheek, her own flushed, for whatever reason, a crimson red.

She was gone, with the giraffe, without another word.

* * *

><p><strong>2<strong>

_One Year Earlier_

"I've done a lot of bad things, Dre" Cat said quietly, her finely polished silver fingernails tapping rhythmically against the searing hot cup within her hands holding the liquid cocoa, brief tuffs of smoke fluttering from the cup. She refused to meet his gaze, something she had been doing a lot lately, and he could not help but wonder why. It was, if he was to say so himself, rather uncharacteristic about her – but maybe he was just learning new things, like that the Cat Valentine they had seen in school and when they were in large groups was not real, and just a hidden mask. "Thing's I'm really…ashamed of doing."

The two were sitting within his kitchen, in which both of his parents and his insane grandmother were not present and they were taking advantage of. As usual, as Jade was with Beck and the two didn't really have anybody else to hang around with at the time, the pair of sophomores had spent their lonely time with each other – in request of her they had just finished making a red velvet cake, painting the kitchen with flour and other necessities that they were going to have to clean up before his mother and father came home from settling his grandmother into her own home. And now, they were sitting across from each other with cups of cocoa in their hands, their conversation suddenly serious after he had subtly pointed that she was not acting like herself recently, and he wasn't sure of what to make of it. He had been scared of the answer before, and now, even more so.

"Like what?" Andre persisted, sipping unceremoniously upon his own beverage within his palms, elbows pressed into the counter top in which he was leaning on as he scooted closer.

"Things like wee-" She stopped herself suddenly, and cleared her hoarse throat, gnawing on her lower lip before beginning once more, "I-I'd rather not talk about that."

"Well, you know you can trust me, Little Red." Said he with a small, growing grin tugging upon his own lips.

"I-I'm…I think we should start cleaning up this kitchen!" Cat suddenly quipped, her voice far too high-pitched than normal and her forehead creased, eyebrows tugging downward as if she was either in deep thought or worried about something he could not put his finger on, no matter how hard he had tried. She hopped off of her stool, beverage nearly sloshing from the sides but one way or another, controlling itself as she steadied it upon the island counter. "Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up" she sang harmoniously to herself, and to the unfortunate predicament of Andre, who was so close to finding out what was wrong, the topic was changed entirely.

But it was not to be forgotten.

* * *

><p><strong>Welp, there is the first chapter! I've been working on this entire story for a couple weeks now (the plot and everything) and I wanted to get it up just to see if I'll get any positive feedback; if I do, I'll update the next chapter quicker! (: Cat may seem a bit OOC, it's hard to write such an optimistic, insane (but in a totally, good way? :P) character like her. Oh, and this story isn't going to have a lot of flashbacks – the one at the end of this chapter will probably be the only one – but I just felt like it was necessary to include it, regardless of how short it was. Don't ask me why, hehe.<strong>

**Hope you guys liked it, and please review with your thoughts! :D**

***Disclaimer that I should have added at the top***

_I do not own Victorious in any way, shape or form. Until Dan Schneider mysteriously disappears. Just kidding_. O.o

* * *

><p><strong>Preview!<strong>

"Cat? What are you doing here, it's nearly three in the morning?" He asked her groggily, though not taking in much of her appearance in his state of drowsiness and with a fist over his eye, rubbing the sleep from it.

"I-I di-didn't know where else to go!" She cried suddenly, her voice heart wrenchingly disturbed and terrified. Andre's attention was caught immediately, and his eyes opened round upon hearing such a sound and he glanced down at the small girl standing, drenched to the bone within his doorway and trembling greatly, at last fully observing her when he hadn't before.

Her clothes were ripped, and she was covered in blood.


	2. Late Night Discoveries

_**Chapter Two**_  
><em>Late Night Discoveries<em>

It was Sunday night, the day after the insane party at Keenan's house that Andre had thrown in random celebration, and he and Tori were sitting within her living room, his piano stretched upon his sprawled legs and his fingers lightly pressing random keys as they had worked to write a new song, one that this time, he was hoping to get a record deal for. He had came so close to getting one the time around the time in which they had done the Diddly Bops performance for a group of younger kids, and if he was to be quite honest, getting one before Senior year was one of his main objectives in life. He knew, though he didn't like to be conceited, and had been told that he had great potential to become an official song writer and singer; that was his dream, what he had strived and is striving for the most – he would make his parents proud and do justice for his school. It wasn't about the fame to him, nor the money, it was so he could make a difference with his music.

But now as he sat upon the large couch with Tori across from him on the second, his back pressing against the cushion, his mind seemed to have been at a complete blank. This would have made more sense to him should he had drank more at the party, but after Cat had left he had gotten nothing more than tipsy and that was sure not to test his song writing ability. As a whole, the adolescent situation at hand wasn't much to worry about, he had gotten writer's block all the time, but he had been at Tori's large and comfortable home for almost seven hours and not a single word but "Verse One" was written upon his notebook, and not a single key played, despite the random pieces that weren't even his, but rather covers of songs he had done in the past.

"Why can't we think of something?" Asked his friend with a groan as she frowned over at him, tapping the end of the eraser upon the blank piece of yellow notepad paper resting upon her lap.

"Dunno, girl, dunno." Andre answered her with a sigh, pressing his fingers down upon the bleached white keys of his keyboard absently, creating a rhythm far too sad to be used for the song he had wanted to write. "I guess I just don't have inspiration tonight."

"How about a good cup of cocoa?" Tori suggested, her frown swiftly turning into a sly smile. "It's from Russia."

"Cat's from Russia," he blurted without reason, pushing his piano from his lap and onto the coffee table gently as he got up to follow her into the kitchen, his hands sliding into his pockets. Tori looked over her shoulder at him with a light chuckle, her brow furrowing nonetheless.

"She does? Can she like, speak it fluently or something?"

"Yeah, you should ask her tomorrow at lunch. It's pretty cool" He shrugged whilst he spoke, still wrapping his mind around why he had suddenly said something; maybe it was on impulse – he had always thought about the tiny redheaded girl whenever the country was mentioned, so perhaps that was why. It wasn't like he was thinking about her, or anything. "I could never understand her parents when I was over her house," he said, shaking his head as he leaned against the counter top in which she had been making the cocoa.

"I think I will!" Said Tori as she smiled over at him, "oh hey, maybe you could write the song about someone you like? You did that once already, but I still think it's a good idea. And when it's done, maybe you could sing it to her." She continued, chewing lightly on her bottom lip as she poured the cocoa into two, small beige cups and handing one over to him.

Andre blinked and grabbed it from her hands with a light smile; he, after having multiple experiences with girls himself and conversations with Beck and Robbie, had discovered that when a girl bites at her lower lip, they want a man to kiss her. The Latina was giving subtle hints that she may have wanted just that, and although he did have some sort of fading feelings for her, he turned and walked toward the table just down the steps instead, figuring he might as well not take that risk.

"Maybe," he replied with another shrug of his burly shoulders, and without another word, sat aimlessly in one of the chairs at the table with his back facing her.

Hours later, when it had neared one in the morning and he was fairly certain that he had to go home before his mother and father begun to freak out that he was out late with a girl, take away all of his instruments and leave him with nothing but his TV he barely used anymore (minus 100 points for over paranoid parents; like his grandmother), he slipped quietly into his home and wasted no time in falling into his bed. The rest of the time he had spent at Tori's was rather awkward; it seemed the entire time she had been sending signals over to him, suggesting one thing or another, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. She was his best friend, one of them that was, but it just didn't seem right. On the other hand, Tori was everything in a girl that he had liked. Smart, caring and sweet and pretty. Any boy would have her in a heartbeat and at one point, when he had first met her, he was convinced he was in love. But, after a while, that so called love had diminished into nothing but a crush.

Now for her, he wasn't so sure of.

* * *

><p>"Cat? What are you doing here, it's nearly three in the morning?" He asked the girl within his doorway groggily, though not taking in much of her appearance in his state of drowsiness and with a fist over his eye, rubbing the sleep from it.<p>

He had woken up nearly two hours after he had just begun to fall asleep, to multitudes of text messages attacking his PearPhone on the bedside table lighting his room up like white strobe bulbs and an irritating noise in which indicated he had gotten intimations. It had been her that was texting him, had called him twice although he hadn't answered either of them (he hadn't realized he was getting called at the time), asking and begging for him to come outside with the occasional "I'm sorry!" for waking him up at, nearly, the end of each and every single one that he had received. And, upon being asked continuously to do so, quickly put on a pair of shorts and a tank top and quietly made his way to the door, confusion wracking his groggy and drowsy mind as he opened the beige platform, the bitter cold of November barreling upon his frame.

"I-I di-didn't know where else to go!" She cried suddenly in response to his questioning, her voice heart wrenchingly disturbed and terrified. Andre's attention was caught immediately, and his eyes opened round upon hearing such a sound and he glanced down at the small girl standing, drenched to the bone within his doorway and trembling greatly, at last fully observing her when he hadn't before.

Her clothes were ripped, and she was covered in blood and bruises – it had appeared as if she had been slapping in the face; her lip was split and her hair was mottled, though sopping wet, and although she looked absolutely dreadful she looked stunning to him (if he wasn't already confused, he certainly was now).

Worry coursed through him almost immediately, and he appeared more awake than he had been just previously. "Wha-"

"Can I pl-please come in?" The redhead whimpered as her arms tightened around her chest as if to shield herself from the cold of the night and the boisterous claps of thunder and the pounding of the falling spate.

"Yeah, of course" He told her, careful not to stutter upon his words as his fist clenched tighter on the doorknob within his grasp. He, without a doubt, hated to see his friends hurt in any way possible, and the simple thought that something horrific had seemed to happen was enough to send his blood boiling as if he was being cooked atop a stove and in a pot (Jade would have liked the thought of that, he presumed). Leading her into the kitchen, as she was soaking wet, Andre grabbed her a towel from the drawer and handed it over to her, taking in her trembling form as she vaguely attempted to cover those damned short shorts up, as if she was saving herself some dignity for whatever reason.

"T-t-thank you, I – you were just the closest house and Jade was – was over Beck's" She hiccupped, hugging herself tighter with the towel wrapped around her petite physique and tears cascading down reddened cheeks. "I'm really" _hiccup_ "sorry for waking you up!"

"I couldn't sleep anyways" He lied with a sigh, contemplating whether or not to hug her, "do you want me to get some warm clothes for you? You're going to get sick."

"O-okay."

"A pair of mine or something of my mom's?" He asked, standing up from the island counter stool and beginning to make his way to the stairs, however walking backwards to keep his eyes upon her in this fragile, vulnerable state.

"Um…yours, if that's okay" She said with another ample shutter, smiling sheepishly and weakly over at him.

He waited in the living room while she changed into a pair of his boxers and over shirt within the downstairs bathroom, with his hands folded behind his head and thoughts galloping through his mind like wild horses and anything that ran expeditiously; he had no idea what had happened to her, what was wrong, but he knew for a fact that he wouldn't like it. And that, almost as much as Jade frightened him, scared him. This was reality and the world was a cruel place and he knew that, but he had never come face to face with something so serious, and it being Cat who had come to him, beaten up and soaked, made him fret even more so than he really should have. Perhaps he was just being as paranoid as his parents and grandmother, or maybe he had the right to be. He figured though, it had to be the second option.

Cat emerged from the bathroom several minutes later, long and thin red velvet hair cascading down the side of her face, one side tucked behind her ear. She was, instead of wearing the large, plain white t-shirt he had given her, simply wearing his boxers and the light gray tank top she had underneath the sweatshirt she had been wearing prior. He got up from the couch to make room for her to sit, already having a blanket prepared for her to curl up within, and tried to keep his mind off of how stunning she looked when she was wearing his clothes.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" He asked her gently as he stood in front of her, his shoulder leaning on the wall beside him as he stared down at the small girl, who had gradually swept the blanket around her form. She was staring off into space with her lips beginning to part, and her voice was so low he had to lean in to hear her correctly.

"My parents…my parents, they were arguing again and it was really bad and they were saying really mean things to each other," she began quietly and cast her eyes downward, as if avoiding his wide eyed gaze, "so I decided to leave. I wasn't re-really thinking about where I was going or what I was doing…and then," she begun to speak faster, so fast that Andre could barely understand a word of what she was saying, her soprano voice mixed and thick with tears.

"Whoa, slow down there, Little Red." He said, attempting to stay calm, though anger and fear laced and corseted his voice, "I can't understand what you're telling me."

"O-oh…well, um…Someone grabbed me from b-behind and-and," her breathing got heavier and she was trembling worse than ever, "I begged him to stop but, he, he wouldn't and it was so s-scary and it hurt so m-uch! I tried to get away but it didn't work!"

A rage so foreign to Andre coursed through him as the small girls voice reached his ears, tugging at his worst trepidation as if substantiating him, that a hand clenched round in a fist struck out to the nearest wall, creating a loud crack of his knuckles against platform and startling the vulnerable girl wrapped within a blanket upon his couch. She cringed back into the cushions, as though afraid of his reaction, her face bowed as her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, in shame. He hadn't meant to frighten her like he had did, however, he thought as he stared at the dent he had made, his breathing ample and uneven, he could not control the anger he had felt – scratch that, the anger he was feeling. How dare some perverted bastard take advantage of innocent, naïve and quirky Caterina Valentine, who was so tiny and fragile that she couldn't fend for herself from any type of danger? The candid, chaste thought alone was enough to make him sick to his stomach, and fill him with fury.

He hadn't an idea of what to say to her, how, in another way, he could react that would not scare her even more than she already was – and so, he simply stared at the wall, attempting to control his breathing. That way it was easier to overwhelm his anger and calm down, though he wasn't quite sure that it was going to work with the thoughts running through his mind. He had seen these things on the news; where they find teenage girl's dead in the woods, who had been cornered, raped and murdered by guys who were sick and disgusting creatures walking the globe. But he couldn't imagine such a thing to happen to Cat. Not _his_ Cat. Some sleazy man had put his hands on her, violated her, touched her in places she didn't want to be touched and did unfathomable things to her she did not want, and he was _mad_.

Beyond it, really. He was, as the duty as a close friend who was capable of protecting the tiny girl from harm, was supposed to keep this type of thing from happening. Andre was supposed to protect her, guard her from the evils of the world, but he had failed to do so just because he had wanted to be with Tori to make a stupid song, and in the end, she had gotten hurt by a random stranger off of the streets. He had failed to prosper for her, and the guilt, though he had only found out a mere few minutes ago, was eating him alive already. And, staring at the crook he had made, his knuckles throbbing, he promised this was never to happen to her again, and that he would take it as his own personal mission to make sure she was safe, and alright.

"Can you please say something?" She squeaked quietly, sounding frail and afraid, like a small child as she kept herself pushed within the cushions. "You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry, Red –"

"Don't call me that!" Cat suddenly cried out, beautiful chocolate brown eyes wide and glossy with tears; she looked even more afraid than she had been before, if that was even remotely possible, and upon this Andre's rage continued to increase, as though climbing, no, _storming _up a set of stairs and coursing through his veins like a wildfire. Unable to take it, he sat down beside her and albeit it wasn't the smartest move, took her into a strong embrace against his chest. Expected but not quite so, the redhead thrashed in his arms, pummeling tiny fists against his chest in an attempt to get away from him.

"Hey, hey!" He pulled away and grasped her by the shoulders, one hand moving to caress the side of her face as she winced and cringed away, tears streaking down her face and staining her dimpled cheeks with black traces of make-up. "Don't you be afraid of me now, Cat. I'd never hurt you" He told her, his voice as gentle as remotely possible. Could this man really have damaged her so much that she was afraid to be touched by her best friend and conceivably any male in general?

Gradually, but rather reluctantly, she had slid into his still welcoming open arms, her head resting against the crook of his neck and her hands fisting the back of his shirt within her palms, quiet sobs wracking her tiny frame. He held her close to him, lacking what to say, with his hands tracing soothing, rhythmic patterns on her back to comfort her as eventually, her cries had grown slightly louder in her despair as she released her fear, and any other emotion this incident had drawn out of her. Andre's rage had not died down the slightest despite when he had enveloped her frame against his as a sign that she was safe in his arms and that, unlike the other, unknown stranger, he wasn't going to hurt her or harm her in any way.

"Oh Andre, it was so horrible! I was so scared!" She cried into his shirt, voice muffled and quiet and he was once again, straining to hear what she had said.

"It's okay, it's alright" He soothed in her ear, pressing his cheek to the side of her head, "you're okay now, I'll protect you."

"You're shirt is ruined" He heard her murmur several moments later, body still trembling but weeps reduced to light sniffs, her grip around his waist slackening some; she must have cried so much that after all she had been through, she completely wore herself out.

"Seriously?" Andre inquired, lightly chuckling though he found this was an extremely outlandish thing to do – laugh during some sort of situation like this. But then again, he hadn't wanted to worry her any more with his anger. "Don't worry about it, you're much more important than some stupid old shirt, Little Red."

Cat never replied, and based upon the even inhales and exhales, she was fast asleep against his chest. Andre, however, could not bring himself to let her go.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm such a terrible person. Poor Cat!<strong>

**Anywho, I hope you liked this chapter! I'm a little iffy about it, all things considered, but otherwise I'm pretty confident – and that doesn't really happen often for me.**

**Mwa, Napier, boo, InfinityForever7 and Jeremy Shane: **Thank you for reviewing! And keep them coming (; You'll find out what Cat did shortly!

* * *

><p><strong>Preview!<strong>

"What'd you do to her, Harris?" Jade asked through clenched teeth as she shoved Andre into the janitor's closet, scissors wielded at his chest in a threatening, malicious manner that made him want to disappear forever.

"I didn't do anything!" He defended as he held his hands up at shoulder level in surrender, confused and bewildered.

"Then why, can you tell me, is she acting as if she just got her heartbroken? Huh?" The Goth questioned venomously, stepping closer.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"


	3. Hell Hath No Fury

_**Chapter Three**__  
>Hell Hath No Fury<em>

"Andre Harris, why is there a girl sleeping on our living room couch in your boxers?" His mother asked him, eyes narrowing as she glanced at Cat, curled up upon the sofa.

"It's not like that mo-"

"She's hot" Interrupted his younger brother with a smirk as he grabbed a Poptart from the cabinet.

"Man you're like eleven" Andre shoved his sibling by the shoulder, in no mood to be joking around or hearing such comments about a girl that had just been raped the night before, before turning back around to face his mother. "It's not like that. She came here around three in the morning all banged up and bloody and I gave her something to wear. She stayed here because she had nowhere else to go and she was pretty scared about something."

"Well, who is it? Do you know her?" Laura asked cautiously with a frown as she met eyes with him, her own filled with concern as she stopped what she was doing, coffee maker temporarily abandoned.

"Can't you tell by the hair? It's Cat, ma" He explained with a sigh, the anger from the previous night swiftly, and gradually returning the more he spoke and thought about it.

"Oh, that cute, short girl that goes to your school and you always hang out with but never bring home?" She inquired, realization clear in her features. He nodded. "What happened to her? That poor girl." She shook her head with an exasperated sigh, flicking the dish towel over her shoulder and grasping the island counter top within her palms a she started at him, intently waiting for a reply.

"Dunno" Andre lied with a shrug, glancing back as the sleeping girl stirred – he was going to have to wake her up soon. "But I'll find out eventually. All she did was cry and apologize for waking me up so early in the morning."

"Just don't pressure her into saying anything, maybe she doesn't want to tell you just yet." Laura said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, sure." Was all he said in response before exiting the kitchen through the archway separating the two rooms, and into the sitting area where Cat was sleeping. Homeroom was starting in a clear hour and he hadn't set an alarm to wake the two of them up, though his mother had rudely shook him until he had not even ten minutes beforehand, and she was showing no signs of waking up any time soon. Part of him knew that they were going to be late – she still needed to get ready, and he was going to have to take her back to her house – but a part of him didn't mind; he would rather, though the urge was foreign, to skip school all together. He didn't suppose that she needed to go today, especially after what had happened the night before. "Hey, wake up Little Red" He said as he knelt down beside the couch, shaking her shoulder slightly. "We need to go to school."

Her eyes, after a few more light shakes and taps upon the shoulder, fluttered open and squinted into the light protruding from the lamp post beside her; she looked confused, with her eyes halfway shut and nose slightly scrunched. But then, all at once, everything seemed to register – he had seen it in her eyes, the spontaneous burst of fear, and she jerked away from his hand with a startled and fretful gasp, slapping him right across the face, and her hands frantically pushing against his chest. Andre quickly and rapidly brought his hands away from her and placed one upon his cheek, frowning as she backed into the couch with her hand clamped over her mouth and tears leaking from her eyes. She had calmed down after it had appeared she recognized him, however, she still seemed to be shaken, and possibly sympathetic. "Andre! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I-I thought you were him and, and…"

"It's okay, Little Red," he reassured her in a hushed voice, glancing over his shoulder at his mother, who was staring directly at the pair of them with a furrowed brow, his younger brother Leon too engrossed within his breakfast to care.

"What time is it?" She asked him, furiously wiping away at her tears; he, unconsciously ran the pad of his thumb upon her cheek, hesitate just in case she was to have another vital attack and jab at him again, as if to do the job for her. She did not respond to his actions in spite of staring at him with wide, doe brown eyes and her lips lightly parted.

"Time for school, just about. Don't worry, it won't matter if we're late." Andre said and got up from his knees, reluctantly pulling his hand away from her warm cheek and shoving it into his pockets.

"I can't."

"Can't what?"

"I-I can't just walk into school and act like everything is fine and peachy Andre!" She whimpered, burying her face into her palms so the rest of her voice was muffled. "I just can't do it! I feel disgusting and gross and I feel like such a slut. Everything's my entire fault and I deserved every second of it –"

"Stop that" He said forcefully, causing her to wince and cringe back, "don't you start saying that this is your fault, girl. This was all the fault of some sick dude, alright? What he did to you, everything he said – was a lie. You're not a slut, you're not disgusting or gross. God Cat, you're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen in my entire life! To top that off, you're one of the most genuine people I've met, and you deserve nothing but happiness. So don't you go saying that you deserve it." His voice was firm and to the point, and his brain wasn't actually comprehending what he was telling her; it was as if he couldn't control the words from pouring out of his mouth and he watched helplessly and rather embarrassed as she flushed a bright read, eyes downcast and avoiding his own as if she too was embarrassed.

"Promise you'll protect me today?" She asked him fretfully, voice sheepish and childlike.

"Promise. Actually," He made a motion with his hands across his chest, "cross my heart and hope to die. Now let's go Little Red, let's get you home and washed up."

Not even two minutes into Hollywood Arts, the two of them standing relatively close to each other by his musical locker, she in his oversized sweatshirt and in a pair of yoga pants; he had given her the HA hoodie upon simple bequest and courtesy, had Jade noticed something wrong when she and Beck approached them. Cat was nearly hiding behind him as if his burly physique was to shield her from the passerby's and anything else that must have been running through her head, and hadn't even greeted the power duo as they stopped to a halt beside them – the Gothic girl, with her hand wrapped around her coffee mug, raised a pierced eyebrow, obviously surprised at the lack of an optimistic aurora surrounding the other pair, especially the shortest female.

"Okay, what's going on?" She asked skeptically, nonchalantly sipping upon her beverage and her eyes boring holes into his own. He, subconsciously shoved his hands into his pockets and turned away.

"Nothing." He answered for Cat, who seemed to have parted her mouth to speak but had found that nothing was coming out. She seemed afraid; of her best friend, he couldn't fathom why – possibly because of Beck, who had an arm around his girlfriend's waist and must have somehow resembled the silhouette of the man whom had committed the awful crime toward her.

"Yeah, right." Said Jade with a roll of her eyes, shoving her coffee into Beck's unexpecting hands. "Be right back, babe." She muttered, and without another word, grabbed Andre by the collar of his shirt and dragged him away, despite his frightened protests and Cat's startled squeaks. "What'd you do to her, Harris?" Jade asked through clenched teeth as she shoved Andre into the janitor's closet, scissors wielded at his chest in a threatening, malicious manner that made him want to disappear forever.

"I didn't do anything!" He defended as he held his hands up at shoulder level in surrender, confused and bewildered.

"Then why, can you tell me, is she acting as if she just got her heartbroken? Huh?" The Goth questioned venomously, stepping closer. "I can see it in her face, she looks as if she was depressed! So, what the fuck did you do!"

"What? What the hell are you talking about? She came to me last night around three in the morning; something happened Jade, something big." Afraid he was telling the girl too much, he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. "You should ask her yourself what happened. I don't know if she wants me to tell."

Jade stared at him with disbelieving, narrowed eyes and her lips quickly turned into a grimace. She flicked her brunette curls away from her eyes and behind her ears and pocketed her scissors, all the while glaring at him. Natural, rather frightening demeanor still intact she took a menacing step forwards, though lacking the ultimate threat in which was now stuffed safely inside her jean pockets, and met him directly at eye level. "If I find out you're lying Harris, I will personally make sure you're life is miserable for a LOONG time. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Andre nodded nervously, fidgeting underneath her cold glower.

"Good. Now, _MOVE IT_."

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><p>"Hey Cat!" Said a cheerful voice from the other side of her locker, startling her; it was passed homeroom by now and the bell had rung, signaling the three minute break to get to their next class, and like their every day tradition (that really wasn't a tradition), Tori had stopped by to walk to Stage Writing alongside with her. The two evidently had that class together, their seats flanking one another in the very back of the room, making it easy to pass notes and draw random, funny and memorable pictures that she had posted on the inside of her own locker and no doubt was the Latina looking forward to doing something similar once again. However, the redhead was consequently, in no mood to do anything gleeful.<p>

"Oh, hey Tor" She replied as she grabbed her text book, shoving it into her backpack in which was slung over her shoulders. She shut her locker door and offered a small, forced smile that disappeared just as quickly as it had come.

"Whoa. Are you okay?" Asked Tori as she pressed the back of her palm against Cat's forehead to feel for a rising temperature, in which she was sure was the same, regardless if she felt nauseous.

" Yeah, totally. Don't worry about it." She replied uneasily, beginning to walk up the stairs and to her next class with her friend traveling right beside her, still with a furrowed brow and looking a tad bit worried about the shorter girls mood and health; it was no surprise, she had expected this reaction. Cat felt nothing of it; instead, she felt fear and paranoia and then, she felt numb. Like she was nothing, nothing but a dirty, filthy whor-

"If you say so..." The taller girl shrugged indifferently and glanced over at her, "hey, is that Andre's sweatshirt?"

She subconsciously looked down at the baggy, oversized hoodie she had received earlier that morning and chewed on her lower lip, attempting to push all other thoughts away. Instead of replying verbally, she simply nodded, and kept her gaze upon her shoes.

The rest of the walk was in silence.

"Are you absolutely sure, you're alright Cat?" Asked her worried friend forty minutes later upon slipping a folded up piece of paper into her open text book sneakily, her voice just fairing above a whisper, as the entire class were to be focused and silent while the other's finished their chapter test, in which she was sure she failed one hundred percent. She had, if she was to be brutally honest, completely guessed on every single question, having far too much on her mind for her to even care.

"Don't worry about it," Cat said again a bit more forcefully, her arm outstretched upon the desk as she aimlessly drew circles upon the edge of the platform, her other tucked near her abdomen, almost as if she was hugging it. Determinedly avoiding Tori's worried gaze and instead staring blankly at the book in which she was supposed to be reading, she chewed on her bottom lip and fiddled with the pen between her fingers, wanting nothing more than to curl up at her home, remaining in Andre's oversized sweatshirt she was currently wearing at the moment, and fall asleep; to a place in which she could forget, where the atrocity that had been committed upon her own self could disappear, and be replaced by happier memories and fantasies.

Everything about what happened the night before, or in reality, earlier this morning was enough to make her want to throw up and with her stomach already tying itself into complicated knots, she did not think that she'd last the day. It was only second period and things already were not, only an hour and forty minutes in, looking as promising as Andre had promised her they would. It was foolish to believe that everything was going to be okay like she normally would have, but she just didn't have the energy nor the motivation to think optimistic things.

In mere exhaustion, physical and emotional exhaustion that is, she dropped her pen upon her paper and put her head down, resting her forehead, near her hairline, upon one of her elbows as the other shielded the rest of her face from the horrid florescent lights that had caused her clapping, throbbing migraine. Her eyes shut as she inhaled heavily through her nose and, somewhat, relaxed the rest of her body in a mere attempt to take a nap, unaware of what time it was albeit rather uncaring. And eventually she had gotten her wish, as her breathing slowed and evened out and everything around her became nothing but a blur, to whispers, and to then, complete silence. The only thing that had interrupted her was the loud ringing of the Hollywood Arts most original bell she had grown to love so much, in which had startled her so much that she had jumped half a mile in the air, her heart beating quickly and out of control.

Tori was kneeling down beside the desk, one knee touching the floor and the other just barely hovering above it, the blue fabric of her jeans grazing the tile. She looked concerned, with her brow furrowed and lips slightly parted. "Are you sure you're alright? You're looking kind of pale…maybe you're coming down with something?"

"No, I'm fine. Really, Tor" She answered with a forced, gentle smile as she fixed herself up from however long her small nap had been.

"Ms. Valentine; may I have a word with you?" Asked Mr. Gradstein from his desk, his hands folded as he looked pointedly at her with disappointment clearly etched across his features, marring them, and she thought he might as well have had the word tattooed upon his forehead in fine red ink. "I'll write you up a pass for your next class."

"Sure. I'll see you in Improv, Tori" Cat told her friend as she stuffed her Stage Writing book into her bag and hauled it lightly over her shoulder. She watched as the tall Latina hesitantly walked out of the classroom, occasionally glancing back, before turning to her teacher and gradually making her way over, attempting not to show her obvious fear of being in a room with a man, _alone._ "What's up?" She asked him, gnawing lightly on her lower lip and hugging Andre's sweatshirt tighter around her.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?" He asked her with a frown, "you haven't exactly been acting yourself, and today you fall asleep in my class and completely fail the test and to do your individual project?"

"Yeah…I just have a lot on my mind," She answered sheepishly, averting her gaze elsewhere and upon the papers neatly organized upon his desk. "I promise it won't happen again."

"Good, otherwise I'll be forced to send you to Nurse Kotter for a drug test, and you wouldn't want that, would you?" She shook her head as he spoke, wringing her hands nervously and involuntarily biting her tongue.

"Is that all?" She questioned as the bell rang, signaling that she would be late to her next class; which was Sikowitz's class, the class in which she had every single one of her friends in, and would undoubtedly be questioned further. She was going to sit by Andre today, she decided. He had told her the night prior that she was alright and safe around him, so, why not believe him? It showed that he cared about her, albeit not in the way she would have liked, and if he was to protect her from all the questions than she wouldn't pass up the opportunity.

"Unless you would like to talk about what's been going on then we can –"

Cat was speeding out of the door before he even finished talking.

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><p><strong>Well, there you have it. Chapter toi. It wasn't that great, but at least it's something, right? That gotta count. I've had a very busy day, otherwise I would have updated earlier than this time. So, sorry if there was a wait for you guys.<strong>

**On a side note****: **_**For all those who had read **_**A Lost Hope**_** and are now reading this story, I've gotten a couple reviews regarding making an addition to the story…and if you've stuck around me for a while, you should know that I always want my readers happy. SO, guess what? I'm currently in the process of a separate installment that's looking rather promising right about now ^^ not sure when I'll have it up, but I'm sure it won't be long of a wait. It will definitely clear up some things I kind of left at blank.  
><strong>_

**Now that that is over and done with. Please review! (: They make my day, and the more I get, the quicker the update! **

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><p><strong>Preview!<strong>

"Why are you crying?" Jade persisted, grip tight upon the small girl and her voice slightly mumbled. She could feel her jaw move against the side of her head, but just barely so; her voice was no higher than a candid whisper.

"If I tell you, will you promise not to get mad?" Cat whimpered.

"Don't tell me this is about Harris," Said the other girl with a sigh, adjusting herself to get comfortable upon the hard tile floor and with another being practically attached to her side, "because I warned you – Tori's going to snatch him up and you're going to get your heart broken. You deserve better, trust me."


	4. Shattered

_**Chapter Four**__  
>Shattered<em>

On any normal occasion or circumstance, Improv Class in which was held third period and directly before her unit lunch, would have been her favorite class of the day, one where she could tolerate without difficulty, without problem. School wasn't necessarily her usual forte, regardless if it was _Hollywood Arts _or not, and the only reason she presumed she was going was because she wanted to be successful in life, she got to see her friends, and because Sikowitz was the best, no matter what anybody had said, acting teacher one could ask for. Cat looked forward to walking into his class every day, for the laughs, for the weird strange and awkward moments, for the acting…everything. No other class she had experienced were quite like it, and the teacher himself made it unique just by the style of clothes he wore. She loved it.

Today, she _hated_ it.

She had sat in the back, twenty minutes late; rather immediately coming into the room she had wandered aimlessly and sneakily in the halls, sat in the Black Box theatre for a good ten and got herself a Wahoo Punch she couldn't bring herself to drink from a vending machine until she had figured she shouldn't rise any suspicions and miss out on the lesson Sikowitz was most likely already teaching. She walked in twenty minutes prior, handed the late note that she had gone back to Mr. Gradstein's to receive, ignored each and every one of her friends and found a seat in the corner of the room, disappointed and angry that Tori had taken her spot next to Andre. And so, without listening to a word her acting teacher was saying, she stared blankly at the wall.

Respectively, Cat had been called on numerous times to answer a question – her insane teacher drinking from a coconut through a bendy straw must have noticed her zoning out in the corner of the room several times, and had caught her in the act. With each question that had been asked, she had to have him repeat or either stared at her wringing hands and kept her mouth shut in order to avoid throwing up and shrugged her shoulders as an indication that she didn't know, and was not going to make an effort to even guess. In response he had sighed and called on someone else and thoroughly received numerous glances from each and every one of her friends scattered around the room.

With each passing moment she had remained silent and figuratively speaking, frozen and rooted within her chair and left with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company, her stomach would churn and twist and tie itself into knots. The previous nights crime was taking a rather harsh toll upon her; with the simple, chaste thought that someone had touched her, kissed her (though she had brushed her teeth a thousand times, she could still taste his lips on hers), been _inside _her, taken away her last string and thread of innocence she had worked hard to keep, was enough to make her want to puke and cry. How could she possibly cope with the fact that she had just been raped the night before and was now sitting in a classroom full of men, each with a body structure similar to the grown man's that had committed the atrocity? She couldn't; and that was not a choice.

Eventually though, she had gotten her escape. The more she had thought about it the more she could feel the disgusting bile rising, and she hastily shot up from her chair, grabbed her bag and ran out of the room as fast as she possibly could with her hand clamped over her mouth. She had barely been able to contain it and hardly gave up upon her trek to the farthest bathroom, the one in which was almost regularly abandoned and the one that she and Jade had always gone too when they needed to get away, but someone, she managed to wait until she had at least stepped foot into the stall. She dropped her bag without care, pulled her hair back, and emptied her stomach into the toilet, her throat stinging and tears cascading down flushed cheeks.

She had been so absorbed in her continuous, disgusting retching that she hadn't noticed another person enter the bathroom in which she resided, and she certainly did not hear the person walk into the stupidly open stall and kneel down beside her. Hands pulled her hair away from her face and back into a band-less ponytail, and when she had finished, wiping her mouth with a piece of toilet paper and flushing the bile, she glanced sheepishly over at Jade, who, wearing a scowl, sat upon her ankles and dark, ebony boots beside her. The Goth pulled a strip of mint gum from her pocket and handed it wordlessly over at her, and Cat took it gratefully, tears continuously streaming down her cheeks and throat burning – she felt the need to throw up again, she wanted too, but she was afraid she had nothing left to empty. After all, she hadn't eaten anything.

"Alright, what's going on with you Rina?" Jade asked, her voice lacking edge or venom, something only close friends of hers (such as Cat herself, Beck and occasionally Andre) got to see and hear. "You act like a freakin' statue in Improv, then run off to throw up in _this _bathroom, and Andre tells me that you showed up at his house really late last night?" She continued, pierced eyebrow raised skeptically.

That was all it had took; a simple mention of her going to Andre's so late was enough to make her crack. Wordlessly she fell into Jade's side and gripped her best friend around the waist, burying her face into her neck and shaking with broken sobs.

Her friend reacted the exact same way she had expected her too; she wrapped her arms around the petite, weeping girl and hugged her close, confused and at the same time concerned, her cheek pressed against vibrant, red velvet tendrils of hair. Cat gratefully held onto her, finding solace and contentedness in the arms of her best friend, a girl, whom was no threat to her. She had grown onto Andre's hugs, knowing for certain that he wouldn't dare hurt her, but she wasn't so sure that she would be fine and dandy with anybody else. The thought scared her. She knew Beck and Robbie wouldn't hurt her either, but there was something that she couldn't put her finger on, that prevented her from finding any source of comfort in that.

"Why are you crying?" Jade persisted, grip tight upon the small girl and her voice slightly mumbled. She could feel her jaw move against the side of her head, but just barely so; her voice was no higher than a candid whisper.

"If I tell you, will you promise not to get mad?" Cat whimpered.

"Don't tell me this is about Harris," Said the other girl with a sigh, adjusting herself to get comfortable upon the hard tile floor and with another being practically attached to her side, "because I warned you – Tori's going to snatch him up and you're going to get your heart broken. You deserve better, trust me."

"But it's not about Andre this time," The redhead stressed, her breath hitching in her throat; she knew she would have to spill what had happened soon, she couldn't hide such a thing from her best friend, all things considered.

"Then what is it?"

Albeit afraid to admit the truth aloud, considering she hadn't actually said the word when she was explaining her horrid situation to Andre the previous night, Cat did anyway, trying to muster up all the very little courage that she had had. She clung onto her best friend tighter, her hands fisting into the fabric of the loose black floral in which Jade was currently wearing, and parted her lips to speak again. It took her some time to actually pry the words from her tongue, however, the other girl was strangely patient with her, and she could not be more grateful. "I-I was…I was, um…ra-" she cleared her throat as her voice cracked, "raped."

"When." Jade's voice was sudden sharp and if she was hearing correctly, trembling – yet at the same time it was not a question, but a single command, and the thought of demanding made chills rush down Cat's spine, and disturbing, reminding images to flash before her very eyes.

"La-last night…" Her reply was greeted by nothing but silence, and in caution and curiosity, willing the other girl to speak, she pried herself away from her friend's embrace and pressed her back against the hindrance of the stall in which they sat. One look at Jade's face was enough for her to understand why exactly she hadn't said anything; the Gothic, tall female had tears slowly trailing down porcelain, pale cheeks and she was staring straight ahead of her, as if in a state of shock, and she could just barely see her lip quivering. Her strong, cold demeanor seemed to vanish completely, and she became a shell of foreign emotion. It wasn't like Cat hadn't seen the other girl crying before, or emotional, vulnerable; it was just that she hadn't expected it. "I-I get if you're mad at me…just, please…please don't hate me." She cried, biting on her lower lip as if to stop the shower of tears emerging behind wet eyelashes.

"Caterina Hannah Valentine what the _hell _are you smoking that is making you believe that I could ever hate you for something like this?" Snapped Jade spontaneously, causing her to jump in fright. Steel gray eyes pierced into hers, and she slid down against the wall, wrapping Andre's sweatshirt around her tiny frame, giving no response – having none. "Well get that thought out of your head; I can never, will never hate you. Especially because of…this."

"But you should!" She rose to her feet in a swift movement that would otherwise have made her dizzy, "you should hate me because I'm gross and let something like that happen!"

"That is way out of your hands for you to possibly let something happen!" Jade said equally loud as she, hauling herself up as well, "you're tiny, Rina. Tiny. You can't handle a situation like that on your own. _This is not your fault_."

"Andre said the same thing," Cat whispered quietly, in no mood to argue, especially not with the girl in front of her.

"And obviously you didn't believe him. If you can't believe someone you've basically been in love with ever since seventh grade, then how can I know that you believe someone you've known since you _were _seven? You're best friend?"

"Just leave me alone, Jade" She regretted saying the words and instantly closed her eyes the moment they came from her mouth, placing a hand on her forehead as her temperature rose and the pounding migraine escalated by one hundred, so fierce that she could feel the thumping within her temples if she pressed her fingertips to them, which evidently, she had.

"Oh, I'm not going away that easy, Valentine." Said Jade, absently reaching out and grabbing the other girl into another, crushing embrace, tears still falling down her own cheeks as if she couldn't possibly understand, or believe that such a thing had happened to her. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

"Bu-"

"No, don't you but me!" She muttered, her voice a light snarl, "you're going to get through this. Do you know why? Because you have Andre; you have me."

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><p><strong>Well, that's that. I hope you liked it! I really wanted to add some Cade friendship in there, since I love it so much. But next chapter will have all characters (:<strong>

**So I made a (seemingly reoccurring -.-) mistake. I put the wrong preview up the last chapter; it was for the next one that's coming up, so sorry if there was confusion, if any at all. **

**Like always, review away (:  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Preview<strong>

"Cat! What – What did you _do_ to yourself?" Andre asked frantically as he stood, dumbstruck in the doorway of the bathroom, unsure of what to do.

"It. Won't. Come. Off!" She yelled back just as frantically, speaking with each, fierce scrub she had given with the bloody wash rag within her greatly trembling hands.


	5. Sticks and Stones

_**Chapter Five**__  
>Sticks and Stones<em>

If Andre wasn't worrying already, he surely was when Cat had run from the classroom so abruptly, broken from her blockade of absolute silence, and without a moment's warning. He had stood up from his chair the second the door slammed shut, but Jade had shoved him right back down and raced after her, and through the silence of the room he could vaguely hear the former calling out the much smaller girl's name. And now, when the two had failed to show up during the beginning of lunch, his worries had increased – he couldn't help it, be worried that is, after all who wouldn't have been? She had just gone through trauma and he understood that she might have been emotional, but all he wanted to know was what exactly they were doing, and where they had gone too. She wouldn't have left school with Jade; no matter what, it was not like her to skip.

And, as if to make matters worse, the entire lunch table seemed to be drawling on about the sudden outburst, as if he didn't have it on his mind already. He was sorely tempted to tell them each time the question was brought up, and in order to keep his mouth shut, he focused intently on his lunch or hummed a random tune. Clearly, by the rate in which it was going, the topic was not going to light up anytime soon, and he couldn't wait until the bell sung.

"Well…It's just weird, you know? In stage writing she didn't say a _single_ word" Tori offered with a small shrug from beside him, forking at her salad and sounding concerned and sincere, "it's like she's sick."

"Maybe she is sick," Beck suggested light-heartedly, his brow furrowed, "or maybe she had a rough night."

"Or both!" Said Robbie.

"So, what do you think Dre? You're pretty quiet too." The youngest Vega sister said, nudging his arm with a bony elbow discreetly, staring over at him. Everyone present at the table seemed to turn their focus upon him and him alone, and to say he felt just slightly pressured was the understatement of the century. But, he was an actor – he could lie, make up something, couldn't he?

"I...she's sick," He answered, fingers aimlessly pressing down upon the keys of his piano he had placed upon his lap, "she called me up this morning asking for a ride since her mom took the car and told me."

"Then why didn't she stay home?"

"Because her mom didn't want her to miss another day of school so she was forced to come. I dunno" he answered Beck, holding his hands at shoulder level as he shook his head at them, "her mom's whack, I guess –"

"Who's mom is whack?"

Andre turned and looked over his shoulder, as did everybody else at the table, at the sound of the sharp voice coming from behind the four of them. Jade stood, plate and burrito gripped tightly in her hands and Cat standing sheepishly beside her, looking away from them all and her attention focused intently upon her fingernails. Both girls appeared very forlorn, the Goth sporting a paler complexion than normal and though she looked cleaned up, as if she had just applied another layer or eyeliner, her eyes were rimmed red, as were the petite redhead's standing beside her. He automatically knew that the former had told Jade, otherwise he could never have guessed why she would be crying – and that alone was thoroughly surprising.

"No one's" Tori quickly said, sheepish and frowning, "are you okay, Cat?" Rather answering directly, the latter took a seat beside her best friend and nodded slightly, her gaze averting back to her nails as she chewed lightly on her lower lip. Jade glowered as she stabbed viciously at her vegan burrito, keeping close to Cat and at the same time, near Beck.

"She's fine, Vega. Don't you have something else to talk about?" Snapped the gothic girl with a well placed scowl in Tori's direction, something the entire group was by now, used to.

Before he knew it, the day had gone by and it was time for the kids and students of Hollywood Arts to head on home, or head out to places Andre didn't know or care about with their own bunch of friends. Throughout the rest of the school day Cat hadn't uttered a word, just as Tori had said during lunch; earning her quite a few stunned stares in which were hastily returned by fury ensued grimaces from Jade, who had stuck to her side like glue. He couldn't help but feel just slightly replaced each time he had glanced at the pair of girls in the hallways or whenever they all had the remaining classes together, but he had hid these feelings fairly well and gently smiled whenever he was sure that he was supposed to.

This did not stop him from waiting for her to come from her last class when school was over. He stood, with his hands stuffed inside his jean pockets, an ear bud wrapped around his ear and his back against the cheerful, pink infested locker in which held Cat's personal, school belongings. The students about him sent him warming glances as they passed: one, a class clown he was, even dancing skillfully and drumming upon the lockers as he had exited the school building with a group of friends – Travis McMann, was his name, a rather good friend of Andre's of whom he hadn't talked to in quite some time. He was patient as he waited; he had known what class she was (Chemistry) in which was all the way on the other side of the vast door, the only class at which she wasn't with Jade as far as he had known. However, unlike he had thought and though he didn't particularly mind, she came into view flanked by the Gothic girl and his own best friend, who was utterly clueless.

"Sup Dre?" Asked Beck with a nod of his head, outstretching his free hand to rather lamely collide their fists together. Jade rolled her eyes, Cat stared at the floor, and another silence developed.

"Ready to go home, Cat?" Inquired Andre after a few moments, and at the sound of her name her head shot up and deep brown eyes interlocked with his own, hers wide. He stared at her expectantly, and as though he had believed it was to sooth her emotions, flashed a gentle smile over at her – however, it was involuntary, and he hadn't consciously realized that he was beaming at all.

"Yeah," She replied with a small nod, tucking her hair behind her ear and turning to Jade. The two girls enveloped each other in a warming hug, the former having to stand upon her toes and the Goth kissing the side of her head. Beck furrowed his brow.

"Since when have you gotten so affectionate?" He had asked his girlfriend with an unknowing chuckle and an easy going grin.

"Oh shut up, will you?" Jade rolled her eyes and grabbed Beck's hand, tugging him away. However, before she had disappeared completely from view and upon passing Andre directly, she said; "better take good care of her, Harris!" In which Andre had only retaliated by with a slightly fretful stare.

"When'd you tell her? When you ran out of the bathroom?" Andre questioned as both he and Cat exited the building as well and into the parking lot; the small girl looked rather eager to be leaving school, and if he had seen it correctly, relieved.

"Um, yep."

The silence returned again, and Andre could not say he liked it.

* * *

><p>"Cat! What – What did you <em>do<em> to yourself?" Andre asked frantically as he stood, dumbstruck in the doorway of the bathroom, unsure of what to do. They had gotten to her home in a matter of 15 minutes – it was rather far from Hollywood Arts, residing in Valley of Los Angeles, and when they had, she had excused herself to her upstairs bathroom, leaving him to explore the familiar house whilst he waited. However, much to his utter dismay and fear, just as he had reached the base of the steps as to go into the kitchen to fetch a water or something to drink, a sob had caught his attention, as well as a loud bang. He had raced up the steps in a matter of seconds, fear wrenching his heart strings in multiple directions and twisting at his stomach; he was by no means courageous, however the thought of her in danger, after a major atrocity, was enough for him to take action.

Without a seconds hesitation he had burst into the bathroom, pushing the door open with a wild swing of his arm and just barely out of breath…only to find her alone, with a wet rag clenched tightly within her palm. She was scrubbing furiously away at the tender skin upon her wrists; the bathroom smelt of copper, and the white wash cloth was, bit by bit, turning rouge. Whatever she was doing to herself, she was making herself bleed, and she didn't subconsciously seem to notice.

"It. Won't. Come. Off!" Cat yelled back just as frantically moments later, speaking with each, fierce scrub she had given with the bloody wash rag within her greatly trembling hands.

"Stop it!" He said fretfully, rushing over almost immediately and all but yanking the rag from her shaking, frantic hands. She yelped at the sudden action; and in this moment, he had realized how extensive the damage was. Each forearm appeared to be painted crimson, pulsing red yet two distinct handprints were visible upon them. Realization had kicked in from that moment on, and he dropped the bloody rag within the sink, nearly thrusting her arms underneath the cold water – she struggled against him for a second or two, most likely scared and frightened; but Andre wasn't thinking correctly, he was thinking stupidly. "Were you trying to get these off, Cat? They're bruises, they'll go away soon! You can't do this to yourself, okay?"

For a moment, she did not respond, but when she had her voice sounded surprisingly angry. "Don't treat me like a baby, Andre! 'Cause I'm not! You have no freaking idea what I've been through!"

"That doesn't give you the excuse to do this!" He held up her wrists, at which she had winced, as if he needed something to indicate to. "Look at your wrists Little Red – look what you did to them!"

"Just leave me alone!" She yanked her arms away from him, pressing her back against the bathroom wall and slowly sliding to the floor, shaking with heart wrenching sobs, "go away! Just get out of my house, and go home!"

"No," he said softly, his short burst of anger dissipating as he knelt down in front of her sobbing and weeping form, cautiously wrapping his arms around her petite frame. It wasn't a surprise when she had attempted to pull away from him, nor was it a surprise that eventually, she had given up and sunk into his embrace, fisting his shirt (which was undoubtedly now stained with tears and blood) and crying heartbrokenly into his chest. "I'm not leaving you. I'll never leave you alone."

* * *

><p><strong>So short and not my best work. But it's been a long day... Ah well. Hope you liked it anyway.<strong>

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews (: keep them coming! **

**Preview:**

"You need to stop this," He told her firmly as he held the pack of cigarettes firmly within his palm, and though he knew he shouldn't have, he glared down at the small, shaken girl before him. The air was thick and smelled of smoke, and the scent made him feel as if he was going choke.

"I can't," Cat replied as she eyed her guilty pleasure, making sure to keep her distance from him, "I need them"

"No you don't need them Cat, they're not safe! You can get really sick; cancer even. They're not helping you in any way possible, they're not helping you like I am." She remained silent. "What else do you do?"

"…A lot."


	6. Abuser

_**Chapter Six  
><strong>__Abuser_

It had been two clear weeks since the incident, in which the incident, or what Cat had preferred to call it rather than "crime," or "rape," and he could pessimistically say there was not much progress for the redhead. As paranoid as ever, it had seemed with each day her condition gradually increased; she jumped at the slightest of things, had a smile for a second and broke down sobbing the next – he could barely hug her anymore, and that hurt him more than he would gradually care to admit to others, but rather only to himself. It just didn't seem to make sense, he decided each time he had left her in her own home under the protection of her unaware, mental, older brother Mouse; he was sure she would be getting better by now.

On the bright side however, something Andre didn't particularly feel comfortable speaking about, his petite redheaded friend was by no means pregnant with the stranger's baby, and the various tests proved this to be so, and that was one less thing he had to worry about. In fact, when she had told him, a bright smile upon her face (something that was a joy to see) he couldn't have been more relieved. He wouldn't have known what he would do if she did end up pregnant; how she would react and how life would turn out for her, but he knew for certain that he would have helped her regardless if it wasn't even his baby and if she wasn't his girlfriend. No way, no how would he ever consider abandoning her in a time of need, especially since he had grown stronger feelings for her with all the time they had been spending together.

Yes, Andre Jackson Harris had developed, and is still developing, strong feelings toward the girl whom he had considered one of his best friends. He believed it had begun when he had taken the solemn, forlorn girl to the park one afternoon the week beforehand, attempting to make her see the beauty in the world once again despite the horrors that lurked about, and when he saw how beautiful and for once in a long time, happy she had looked as she walked through the emerald green meadow of grass and trees, butterflies about her as if an aurora, his stomach tied itself into knots. When she exposed such depth to him, something he hadn't known such a naïve girl carried, he realized that his small crush on Tori was nothing to compare to this. Not by a long shot, he concluded; it might have been that he was physically attracted to the youngest Vega sister, but he didn't need to think twice when he felt as if this was so much more than that. It was just a shame that he knew she would never feel the same way toward him.

"So, what's up with you and Cat, dude?" Asked Beck as if he was reading his thoughts, while he approached the lunch table in which Andre was currently seated at amidst the Asphalt Café, his bag coolly slung over a lean shoulder as he supported his lunch with his other hand. He sat down across from the musical boy, adjacent, his expression marred with curiosity with a pinch of smugness.

"Huh? What do you mean what's going on between me and Cat? Nothing's going on," he replied with a frantic shake of his head, attempting to keep his cool; he and Beck were similar, however, he had much more trouble saying things he didn't mean.

"You sure?" The other boy asked with a furrowed brow, "you've been acting kind of wonky around her. She's acting weird too. But we're best bros, right? So you can tell me this stuff – secrets safe with me man."

"Well she's been through a lot man; just helpin' out a friend." Andre covered his previous mistake, pointedly avoiding the last sentence in which Beck had explained – he was an actor, in a way, he couldn't afford to make silly mistakes like he had just prior to the conversation. "So, where's Jade?" He questioned in a mere attempt to change the subject.

"Told me she needed to talk to Cat about some things, seemed worried; she has been every time Cat was mentioned or something. Which is why I asked." Said his calm friend with a shrug as he chewed upon his pizza. "Gotta crush there, Dre? Don't blame you, I mean Cat's pretty, sweet, caring…" he smirked, "seems like your type to me. And look, you even look uncomfortable. Shape up those acting skills, man, shape them up."

"Don't let Jade hear you say that."

"Nah," Beck said, "her and Cat are best friends, she wouldn't care, you know? Anyway, do you like her or not?"

"I…You can't tell anyone man, 'specially not Jade. She'll tell her for sure." Andre spoke in a rush, the first time he was admitting his feels out loud about his redheaded friend. "She's real intelligent too man, probably the smartest out of all of us I'd say…and she's beautiful, gorgeous, kind and funny…" Once he started, he couldn't stop, until Beck chuckled and held out a hand.

"Whoa, so maybe more than a crush there?" He shook his head with a laugh. "So are you going to ask her out?"

"I dunno man, I mean, she probably doesn't even like me back," He replied, fingers toying with the apple within his palm, "and I told you she's been going through a lotta crap and it's bad man…real bad. I wouldn't feel right."

"Oh. Well, what's going on with her?" Beck inquired collectedly, though he did appear to be a tad bit worried, "come on, it's not like I won't tell anyone. Jade knows, she has to know, right? So why can't I?"

"Uh, I guess I can tell you, but you got to promise that you won't say any-" A hand slammed upon the table before he could say any further, and startled, Andre jumped out of the way, dropping his apple in the process and glancing over to his side. Beck appeared unfazed as usual, and each boy turned their attention upon a red faced Jade West, who appeared to have been seething and panting through clenched teeth. He swallowed nervously; he had always been afraid of the Gothic girl when she was at her angriest, and he couldn't say that he wasn't at the time.

"**YOU**. **Andre**." She snarled, shoving a small white box at his chest harshly, almost mercilessly. He caught it within his hands, though refused to avert his gaze in fear she would do something to him while he wasn't looking. "You go handle her, maybe you can talk some damn sense into her brain."

"What's up, Jade?" He questioned her worriedly, his eyes going wide; he knew she was speaking of Cat, as Beck simultaneously asked "What goes on, babe?"

"I've tried everything to talk some sense into her! You're the only one that seems to get the point across, so DO IT." Jade responded as she furiously sat down beside her boyfriend, glaring daggers at Andre as Beck and he glanced at her curiously and quizzically, "she's behind the school. Can't miss her if you tried."

Andre wasted no time in leaving; even abandoning his bag and his lunch as he rushed away from the lunch table, though not before he had heard Beck asking her why she couldn't handle whatever it was herself, and Jade screaming at poor Sinjin to walk away before she stabbed him where it hurt with a pair of wielded scissors. He pushed through the hallways, shoving Robbie and Rex into the nerd's locker, whom were both animatedly chatting with Tori, and ignoring anyone whom had called him. He was determined to reach her before she had left, worried and at the same time furious – he had foolishly glanced down at the item that Jade had shoved to his chest; a pack of cigarettes, and nearly half of them were gone, leaving the Melbourne's half full.

These couldn't have been hers, he thought as he raced to the back of the West side building, shoving through the back doors almost instantaneously; but he had been proven wrong once again. The redhead was sitting upon the ground with her back pressed against a cement half-wall, the strong aroma of smoke surrounding her and a lit blunt pressed firmly between her index and middle finger. The moment he had burst through and into the courtyard, she dropped it and gasped, shooting up to her feet in surprise; as she exhaled, the oxygen about her tainted gray in a cloud of exhaust.

"When did you start" he asked monotonously, staring down at her with his hand raised, exposing the pack of Melbourne's as if to express that he had known.

"Please, please don't be mad at me And-"

"_CAT_. _When did you start_?" In all honesty he hadn't meant to yell but he could not help himself; this was a serious matter, and for a once innocent girl whom he had been helping to cope with her situation in which happened weeks ago, it was a big deal, especially because he had no idea, and she had not attempted to tell him. However, no matter what, just the sight of her was enough to make his stomach flip and flop; even angry he could not control it.

Before him, Cat looked severely close to tears, and shied away from him as he yelled at her, as though afraid, "Not long ago, maybe a two months…" She answered sheepishly, biting her lower lip.

"You need to stop this," He told her firmly as he held the pack of cigarettes firmly within his palm, and though he knew he shouldn't have, he glared down at the small, shaken girl before him. The air was thick and smelled of smoke, and the scent made him feel as if he was going vomit.

"I can't," Cat replied as she eyed her guilty pleasure, making sure to keep her distance from him, "I need them"

"No you don't need them Cat, they're not safe! You can get really sick; cancer even. They're not helping you in any way possible, they're not helping you like I am." She remained silent. "What else do you do?"

"…A lot."

"What? Are you – okay." He took a deep breath, attempting to control himself as he discovered this new, startling information. Perhaps Cat wasn't as innocent as she seemed, and it was all a façade. "Like what." His question came a demand.

"I-I…I tried, um. Did weed for a while…" She hesitated and closed her eyes, as though she didn't want to look at him, "but that's over now, I stopped."

"And?"

"Hookah, down to earth."

"Jesus Christ Cat" Andre said disbelievingly, nearly dropping the pack of Melbourne's within his palm. "Why the hell would you do this to yourself? That kind of stuff isn't safe, alright? You could seriously screw up your life, and it needs to fucking stop!" He barely cursed, and if so on rare occasions, and once again he found himself incapable of controlling himself.

"Look, I'M SORRY, okay? Is that what you want to freaking hear?" Cat yelled at him, throwing her arms up in exasperation and Andre stood, flabbergasted at her sudden outburst. "_I'm sorry_ I made a stupid mistake! _I'm sorry_ I'm not perfect like Tori! _I'm so fucking sorry _that I'm not everything you'd expect me to be! I'm only human! I make stupid, bad decisions! Maybe that's why I was raped; bad things happen to bad people right?" She shouted, and though she sounded angry, tears were streaming down her cheeks, "a-and if you don't want to be my friend anymore, I completely understand."

And with that, Andre was left alone, rooted to his spot in shock and incapable of moving a muscle.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh snap. So, we got Andre falling in love, Cat on drugs and freaking out, JadeAndre finding out about it and now Cat/Andre fighting. Seems like everything's fine and dandy, right? I think so! How about you? **

**But seriously guys. Don't do drugs. They bad - trust me.**

**Anyways I hope you guys liked the chapter and please leave your thoughts in a review! Thank you all for them, by the way; they're all very wonderful and make my day every time :)**

**Preview:**

"Jade, I can't handle this." Cat said, bottom lip trembling as she stared up at her best friend, rain quickly drenching the pair of them. "I can't handle feeling so disgusting, so worthless, so…so…I don't know!"

"Rina-"

"I still have nightmares you know, about what happened that night. They feel so real, and I swear just as I'm about to see his face, I wake up. Every time I go to sleep. I smoke because it relieves stress, and now Andre's mad at me, and he's –"

"I told you," Jade interrupted softly with a frown, "I told you Vega was going to snatch him up."


	7. Worthless

_**Chapter Seven  
><strong>__Worthless_

"I really, really don't want to have this conversation again Jade."

The two girls were seated within the Gothic girl's bedroom, the former curled up in a fetal position upon the bed whilst the scissor loving fanatic investigated a new pair of finely polished sheers she had gotten not too long ago. It had been days since Jade had caught Cat with a pack of cigarettes in her hand in the back of the school, but every time the two had gotten together to hang out, or seen each other during class, the topic had come up and would not seem to go away. She couldn't push such a thing like that away from the pair of them as though it had never happened; Jadelyn August West was known for holding draconian grudges against people, and this, though the petite redhead was her best friend, was no exception whatsoever, no matter if she had dramatically changed or if she had not.

Oh yes, Cat Valentine had changed, and Jade couldn't say she was particularly fond of it. She knew very well that this was not something that neither of the girls could control; she doubted that she wouldn't change if such a thing like being raped had happened to her, but even though the old Cat had gotten on her nerves plenty of time, that was what made the two friends. The fact that they were so horribly different from each other that they just seemed to work in that sisterly, best friend way that she knew for a fact Tori was jealous of. Well, maybe she didn't know, but in her mind she liked to think just that. However, the redhead had changed to the point where Jade wasn't sure she knew her anymore. Always silent and paranoid during school, avoiding eye contact with each and every single person (males, rather), having no further interest in anything funny, cute and dare she say it, adorable…even acting and singing she had seemed to dismiss, and Sikowitz had noticed. She had become a shell of shielded emotions.

And then there were the times where those said hidden emotions came back around from her chest and burst into the open. On multiple occasions the brunette had found herself consoling the other girl while she cried into her shirt and had several anxiety and panic attacks countless times. She didn't mind soothing her of course, and she had even felt her own heart break each time something as such had occurred – something very incredibly rare for her, as she never felt sympathy. This was only because she had known what it was liked to get pitied by someone else, and it was not the good feeling. In fact, it seemed to annoy her even more so than she was, or upset her even more; either way, she didn't like it, so she didn't do it.

"You don't get it, do you?" Jade asked her incredulously from her spot across the room, oscillating her scissors back and forth within her hand. "Talking about it isn't a choice, it's…" she trailed off, struggling to find a good word, "mandatory."

"No, it's not." Cat replied immediately, her voice a mumble as she fell upon her back, sprawling across the ebony bedspread with a soft bounce against the mattress. "I really don't feel like crying again. Please."

"Okay, listen up Rina. This is a discussing matter and this conversation is going to happen no matter what. You tell him everything but you haven't told me a thing about this whole drug situation! And I doubt if I had never caught you, you would never consider telling me about it anyway." Said the brunette sharply, though when she spoke again, her voice was considerably softer…for her, "so, spill; I want all the details. Now."

"I started two months ago, from my brother. He smokes regularly, like your dad." The other girl grumbled, refusing to directly look at her. "And then I got into weed with a couple friends from Bakersfield High; you know that group we used to hang around with when we were in middle school? But I stopped that. It's over."

"So why did you start though?" Jade asked sharply, grabbing flowers from the pot beside her and trimming away furiously over a small trash bin before her. "'Cause of Mouse? Was that it?"

"Jade…you know that my parents fight all the time."

"And? I haven't helped you with that stress at all? Andre hasn't?" She persisted, waving her scissors once more before furiously snapping the shiny blades upon the wilted, nearly chopped up plant she had gotten just for the occasion of snipping and scissoring, vigorously and violently once more. "You're joking. Joking, you have to be. Because I don't believe for a second that Harris hasn't helped you out."

"I _don't _want to talk about him right now." Said Cat, jumping off of the former's bed and grabbing her bag from the floor, slinging it over a slender shoulder with a huff. "I'm just going to go home, mom's probably worried."

"Why?"

"So you didn't see then?"

"See what?"

"Check TheSlap" The short girl answered through clenched teeth, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She turned to the door once she opened them, wide brown eyes glassy with tears. Jade did as she was told, quickly scrolling down the numerous pages upon the website named for any possible sign as to why Cat would be even more upset with their mutual friend, the one of which the redhead had a serious crush upon for the last couple years they had known him. When she had finally came across it, a scowl on her face, her eyes went wide:

_**Andre Harris is now in a relationship with Tori Vega**_

"Shit, Ri-" She looked up as she began to speak, but found herself staring at nothing but an empty room beyond her.

Dropping her phone carelessly upon the carpeted floor, the Goth raced out of her bedroom and through the house, nearly ripping the front door off of its hinges as she exited the large house in which was granted from her father's numerous jobs. "Hey! Cat, get back in here!" She shouted through the rain, one hand pressed against the door frame with the other still on the handle. When the girl refused to come back inside but had stared at her emotionlessly, looking forlorn and paler than normal, Jade stepped outside and descended the steps of her porch, bare feet sloshing through the growing, deep puddles of the concrete driveway beneath her, the moon's glistening rays of light providing nothing but a faint glow.

"Jade, I can't handle this." Cat said, bottom lip trembling as she stared up at her best friend, rain quickly drenching the pair of them within seconds. "I can't handle feeling so disgusting, so worthless, so…so…I don't know! Alone!"

"Rina list-"

"I still have nightmares you know, about what happened that night. They feel so real, and I swear just as I'm about to see his face, I wake up. Every time I go to sleep. I smoke because it relieves stress, and now Andre's mad at me, and he's –"

"I told you," Jade interrupted softly with a frown, "I told you Vega was going to snatch him up."

"But I didn't think it would be this soon, Jadey." Cat whimpered, and she could easily tell that the smaller, tiny girl before her was beginning to cry. She took a deep breath.

"Listen to me." She tried again, walking close to the small girl and enveloping her into a near bone crushing hug. Drenched, she wrapped her arms around her, head near the shorter redhead's shoulder and ear, "Tori's got nothing compared to you; she's too perfect, Andre's only blinded by those damn cheekbones and her perfect little life. They won't last long, believe me."

"How do you know that?"

Jade smirked. "Believe me Rina, they won't. Now let's get back inside; there's cake in the fridge, and I'm sure you're going to want some."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that was chapter 7! I hope you liked it, even though it was kind of depressing (most of them are) and short. I guess you can call it a filler. I'm feeling a little bit down today over reasons I'd rather not share over the internet…Let's just say some relationship problems : And I promise there will be Candre interaction again very soon. *No Tori hate implied toward the end***

**Anyway, just gonna get this whole thanking thing out of the way before the preview;**

**USA-Fanatic, SeddieCandre13, Digidestend Angel (eep! :D) , I'mWickedCrazyYeahI'mAllThat, Songbird341, Unknown Pen, Jeremy Shane and Insane Blueberry :) - **Thank you all very much for your reviews! (: Love you guys!

_**Preview:**_

"Hey, Dre, can I talk to you for a minute man?" Beck asked as he nudged his friend on the shoulder with his two fingers, tightening his grip around the strap of his rucksack.

"Sure," Said Andre with a shrug, walking beside his best friend to their lockers for some sort of privacy, but not before giving Tori a peck upon the lips in a goodbye. The tan boy nearly scowled at the two as they kissed, however he kept his thoughts in check; he would not do show his bewilderment, as that would certainly cause some sort of drama and tension he wasn't looking to creating nor starting. "So, what's up Beck? Something wrong?"

"Yeah, there's something wrong." The Canadian said tensely, looking slightly frustrated, "you and Tori? I thought you liked Cat, dude?"

"I like Tori a lot longer than I liked Cat." Muttered the other boy, his facial expression darkening. "That's the way it's going to be, and that's that."

**Please tell me your thoughts in a review!**


	8. Good Things Happen to Those Who Wait

_**Chapter 8  
><strong>__Good Things Happen to Those Who Wait_

"-and apparently she stayed at his house until the next morning, which was why she was acting so weird." Jade explained to him as the two sat within the janitors closet before school began, she between Beck's legs with her back against his torso and his own against the wall behind the pair. She was furiously cutting up the garbage can, something in which was just recently replaced by the custodian, with her favorite pair of scissors that he had gifted her for her most neoteric birthday only three weeks ago. "So she's been dealing with that for a while…terrible, right? Some stupid ass raped her?" She shook her head. "And I caught her the other day, smoking a cigarette; said she's been doing that for two months. _Two months_, and I didn't even know. None of us did; it kind of makes me wonder how many other secrets she's keeping from me."

Beck blinked, his knuckles nearly going albino as he listened to his girlfriend rant on about his redheaded friend, who undoubtedly hadn't been herself; the curiosity had gotten the better of him and he continuously asked Jade what was going on, who then asked Cat if she could tell him. With the okay, he was tugged harshly into the prior mentioned closet, and had been listening intently ever since, attempting to hide his fury. "So that was when you came to lunch and told Andre to go get control of her?"

"Don't interrupt me." She snapped with a harsh click of her scissors against the strong plastic within her hands, another clunk of ashen trashcan falling to the tiled floor. "But yes, that was why. They're not talking now because they got into a huge blowout about it apparently, and then Harris started going out with Vega. That crushed her even more let me tell you. I spent all night when I found out listening to her bawl her eyes out while eating cake about it. She's like, in love with this kid and has been since we met him, basically. And now he's with the girl that she feared that he'd end up with, someone who she feels 'pressured'" cue the air quotes, "to perfect herself whenever they're around each other."

"That doesn't make sense though," He interrupted, regardless of her harbored glare sent in his direction. He ignored it pointedly, his brow furrowing as he thought of the previous weeks conversation with his friend. "He told me, the day that you found out about Cat smoking…I guess, that he was practically in love with her. So why would he be with Tori?"

"Wait what?" Jade twisted around, scissor's still clenched tightly within her palm as she face him, eyes sharp. "Did you just say that he was 'practically in love with her'?" She was bewildered, he could tell by the tone of her voice and the way her pierced eyebrow shot up to her hairline, curving and arching perfectly. "So if he's in love with her why the hell didn't he make a move on her? God forbid, it's not like she's going to reject him."

"He doesn't know that," Said Beck with a light shrug, eyeing the wielded weaponry in her hands, "so he might be with Tori because he wants to make her jealous, to see if there's any chances of him liking her back."

"And you would know this how?" She questioned darkly with narrowed eyes.

"You don't remember?" He chuckled, shaking his head and a small grin tugging his lips upward in a crooked manner. "Back in freshman year two years ago, when I was with Jessica Sanchez? And you got so jealous when I told you that I loved her that you went up to her the next day and dumped her lunch tray over her head and nearly cursed at her until she cried?"

"Oh yeah" his girlfriend smirked, realization coming across her features, leaning against his chest again and fiddling idly with his fingers. One would never guess that when the pair were alone, she was as sweet as sugar…Sometimes. "that skank that's in our Improv class."

"Well, that was because I was seeing if you liked me back as much as I liked you." Beck explained with a smile, remembering the day when he had confessed all of his feelings for the gothic girl that he had currently been with for nearly three years now; the memory fresh in his mind. He was sure it had been one of the best days, that day was, when she too had come clean about her own feelings and said yes when he had asked her to be his girlfriend. "I never liked Jessica that way, she was just a friend to me. So I sure as hell didn't love her. I love only you."

"Good, you better," she said, and he could nearly hear the smile in her voice, "because I love you too."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Dre, can I talk to you for a minute man?" Beck asked as he nudged his friend on the shoulder with his two fingers, tightening his grip around the strap of his rucksack. He neared the pair with an easy-going stature, however on the inside he was nearly fuming – he hadn't liked it when his friends made stupid mistakes such as the musician had, especially when it had involved girls. Usually, on any normal occasion<p>

"Sure," Said Andre with a shrug, walking beside his best friend to their lockers for some sort of privacy, but not before giving Tori a peck upon the lips in a goodbye. The tan boy nearly scowled at the two as they kissed, however he kept his thoughts in check; he would not do show his bewilderment, as that would certainly cause some sort of drama and tension he wasn't looking to creating nor starting. "So, what's up Beck? Something wrong?"

"Yeah, there's something wrong." The Canadian said tensely, looking slightly frustrated, "you and Tori? I thought you liked Cat, dude?"

"I like Tori a lot longer than I liked Cat." Muttered the other boy, his facial expression darkening. "That's the way it's going to be, and that's that."

"Why are you going out with her?" he continued pointedly.

"Because I like her."

"That's bullshit dude, no you don't." Said Beck with a roll of his eyes, pulling the strap of his backpack over his shoulder more, as it was beginning to slip down his bicep. Whilst Andre continued to stare at him, at a loss of words, the taller boy looked 'round him as to make sure there was no one else near, so there were no interruptions. "You're only saying you like Tori because you're wazzed off at Cat and she is to you."

Andre rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands further into his pockets, shrugging brawny shoulders and shaking his head. The musician seemed, for once in his life, rather passive – the two best friends had serious talks about girls all the time, Beck about Jade and the other about whoever he had managed to set his eyes on, but it had never escalated to the point where they were ever angry about it to one another, or calling themselves out about something. Beck was about respect; he might not have been the perfect boyfriend, even though he dearly hoped that Jade thought of him as such, and he did make his mistakes (there were many that he'd rather not recall), but he knew everything about being a gentlemen. He was sweet, hopelessly romantic and he treated his girl right. Disrespect, domestic abuse and other negative aspects of a relationship were not in his vocabulary. He hadn't known exactly what his friend was, since he was never in a serious affiliation but he supposed he was nearly the same.

"Look Beck, I don't want to be called out about this." Said the musician with a grimace, shouldering passed him with a swaggering step, "I'm with Tori, and I'm serious about it."

"I'm not done." He remarked, grabbing his friend by the bicep and nearly tugging him back, but rather instead turning him around to face him. "I know what happened; Jade said Cat gave her the okay to tell me. And some other things. You think I'm going to sit here and watch you hurt her without even realize it when she's already messed up right now?"

"Stop pretending to play the older brother here" Andre retorted snappily; it was rather unlike him, Beck characterized, "I don't need your help in telling me what to do. I'm glad you know and care and everything, but this isn't any of your business. Tori and I are good for each other, I like her a lot, and yeah…maybe I do still have feelings for Cat, maybe she's constantly on my mind, but so it Tor. She's my girlfriend, Cat's just my friend. Get it?"

"But what I'm saying is that this doesn't make sense. You told me you loved her, dude."

"I'm an actor, Beck." He said, finally turning and swaggering away. "I say things that I don't mean."

* * *

><p><strong>This isn't my best, and very short. Filler, I suppose. Needed to add some Bade in there ;) for you guys.<strong>

**So, my best friend made me watch The Human Centipede 2 (online) with him earlier and I feel like puking. Like, I seriously feel like I'm going to die right now, and that was two hours ago. I have never…just…Scarred for life – and I can take horror and gore pretty well but this was just downright…repulsing/disturbing/revolting and nauseating all in one. I mean, not only is it gross to look at but it's sick – mentally sick; the dude tortures a pregnant woman for 30 minutes endlessly in the last act and a newborn baby dies? Like, wut. What is this and who makes these movies? I just…can't. Oh, and when the people die from things I'd rather not talk about or else I'll puke, the dude who kidnapped them starts **_**crying**_**. CRYING! He practically killed them! Ugh, this movie. And the first one. **_**Never, never, never again**_**. Don't see that movie, please. If you don't want to be mentally scarred for the rest of your life. If you like that movie then…I don't know what to say. Lol.**

**Now that my pointless, irrelevant rant is over, I'd really love it if you be sure to review while I'm out dying of disgust. Thanks! I love you all :) And thank you all who reviewed the previous chapter! It is 100% okay to hate Andre at this point, but I promise you that won't last for very long ;) starting next chapter! Hehe.**

**Anyways, I posted the sequel "Catastrophic" of A Lost Hope not too long ago, so if you haven't seen it, you should take a look and tell me what you think! But you can only read it if you read its first installment, or else you'd be beyond confused.**

_**No Preview this time, sorry!**_


	9. Naivety

_**Chapter Nine**__  
>Naivety<em>

All men, or much rather boys, were in some ways naïve. Some more than others, some less than others – it was just the way that it had worked. In time they would grow to be less ignorant and foolish into adults; ones with feelings, maturity and become more realistic. However, those boyish tendencies did not stray far from their host and were usually buried somewhere beneath a serious demeanor, whether it be clear that it was or not. Naivety was not always a bad thing, in some rare cases it could be good, perhaps a symbol, a sign that these boys who carried these traits were not quite ready to grow up and were savoring their childhood whilst it lasted, not learning so quickly and enjoying the ride that was life.

They were stupid too.

Some at least, not all.

They were the ones who used others, particularly woman, for selfish desires. The ones that didn't take things seriously; the ones that bullied others just simply because they didn't fit in or looked different, ones that didn't quite understand how to fully commit themselves into a relationship without cheating, self-centered, immature, the list could go on. Albeit there were the ones that were rarely seen in times like these – those who were the exact opposite of what was just prior described. And at one point in time Andre Harris believed he was one of them; someone who knew how to behave with slight ignorance toward girls in particular, but rather intelligent. Now, he wasn't so sure.

What exactly was he? He wasn't completely stupid, though others may now think so due to his reasoning to Beck in which surely would get around their group of friends, yet he wasn't completely grown out of that stage yet.

He was sure that others, perhaps Jade, Beck, Robbie and (hopefully not) Cat thought otherwise of him for his decision, and he was beginning to think so himself. Yes, Andre did like Tori – this was no lie, but also an expectation. It seemed as though everybody had conjectured that he and the Latina would fall in love the more they had hung out with each other, saw each other and sang with one another. The first day she had come to school people already predicted that he had liked her, and to be completely honest, he had. But he could not deny the fact that he did; she was attractive and genuine and seemed totally like his type. And again he didn't want to lie, so he'll say to himself time and time again that she is, but in reality, she was not, and he was pretty sure who was, he just didn't want to admit it, and he didn't exactly know why he couldn't, why he wouldn't.

Many people would say to follow your hearts not your mind, and even as cheesy and cheeky as that sounded, Andre was following the bandwagon, and his character. It was telling him that Tori was nothing but one of his best friends, and each small peck upon the lips they passed between each other over the last three weeks didn't seem to matter. Nothing happened; there was just nothing there that indicated that what they had with one another was right.

Dark fingers entwined with Tori's as the two sit on her living room couch, watching the latest ICarly online video, he sighed and bit the inside of his cheek. She was laughing at the laptop before her, smiling brightly and leaning into his side as though she needed support, clearly unable to control herself as she giggled. It was a funny sight indeed, but he couldn't find it in himself to laugh along with her; honestly, he wasn't even paying attention to what was going on beside the various movements and flashing lights and whatever else went on in the funny webcast. His mind was too wrapped around his thoughts, what they could mean, and it was bringing down his once neutral mood rather quickly.

Being Tori, she didn't seem to notice.

"Well it's getting late and I got a load of homework," he said while she inhaled deeply, attempting to catch her breath from her loud giggling, "so I should get going."

"Aww, okay," She frowned, her attention brought from the screen of her computer. She pressed her lips to his in a quick peck in which he returned just as expeditiously, albeit, for whatever reason, distantly and reluctantly. Regardless the two smiled at each other when they pulled away – and he would have saw the slight tug downward upon her lips if he hadn't hastily averted his gaze away from her. "Um, is everything okay Dre? You're kind of…out of it," she asked softly, brow furrowing.

"Yeah totally, just got a lot on my mind is all. You know Mr. Zampella wants that music draft done by tomorrow morning and I've been kind of stressing over it," he lied with an easy shrug, something he had been doing a lot lately. Naturally honest, this was a difficult thing to keep doing and he could not say that he liked it the slightest.

"Oh, want some help?"

"Nah it's alright, thanks though," Andre smiled slightly as he slipped on his Nike sneakers, car keys dangling from his fingers as he pulled them from his pockets. "Night babe,"

"Good night, love you and see you tomorrow" Tori smiled as she walked him to the door, pearly whites flashing.

"Love you too"

When Andre drove away, he turned in the opposite direction of his house.

* * *

><p>It took him twenty minutes to arrive in the valley of Los Angeles from his girlfriend's house and the entire time he had been driving, quarter after 11 and nearly midnight, he was arguing with himself. Contemplating back and forth whether or not he was making the right decision, why he was doing this, and if whom he was going to visit was even awake. He was guessing that it was a no, but a part of him wished that that wasn't true – he needed to see her, someone who he'd barely even uttered a word too since he began dating Tori, someone who he abandoned when he said that he wouldn't. To say he felt absolutely awful, all things taken into consideration, was clearly the understatement of the next few centuries, possibly even millennia's to come.<p>

Stalling was not something Andre had done a lot in the past, but he presumed that he had done exactly that more than he ever had just now, than in his sixteen years of living. He parked a couple houses down near the corner of the lot, staring at his hands gripping the steering wheel as tight as he could, contemplating everything he was going to say to her as though he was preparing a valedictorian speech for graduation.

Finally though after another fifteen minutes, he had managed to work up his foolish nerves and he stepped outside of his car and too her front porch, texting her to come outside to meet him at the door.

The door opened only mere moments later, and, with his hands stuffed in his pockets he looked up from his feet to see a rather frazzled looking Cat Valentine, her crimson red in slight disarray, black rimming her eyes faded as though she had forgotten to take it off before heading to bed, and sleep clear in her features. She was wearing her pajamas; baggy Hollywood Arts sweatpants and a simple matching tank top with a jacket sloppily put on; her giraffe slippers did not go unnoticed. And, had it not been for his overpowering and overwhelming nerves he would have chuckled at her appearance – she still looked beautiful.

He swallowed hard; he should _not_ be thinking that when he was in a relationship with Tori.

But then again, he shouldn't be doing what he was going to do either, let alone do it behind her back.

"Andre," she said softly, stepping outside and closing the door gently behind her, as to not wake anybody else and sleep clear in her high, soprano voice, "what are you doing here? It's like, 12."

"Sound familiar?" He chuckled humorlessly, clearing his throat when he received no response. She appeared to be slightly angry at him, he concluded as he noted her slight glare whilst she looked up at him, too short to see eye to eye level. "Um, I came here to…see how you were doing?"

"Compared to about a couple weeks ago, I'm making some progress," Cat crossed her arms, averting her eyes and smooth cheekbones flushed, embarrassed and ashamed, "Jade and Beck want me to talk to Lane about it…but I just can't."

"I understand,"

"No you don't Andre, don't kid yourself. You couldn't possibly understand what I'm dealing with," She snapped uncharacteristically, and he winced. Her voice got considerably normal when she continued speaking. "But why are you really here?"

"Um…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck and inhaling heavily, "I came here to apologize." He continued, and when she parted plush lips to protest, he held a hand up to silence her, "wait, before you say anything let me finish. I came here, at midnight, to tell you that I was sorry for everything I _didn't _do in the last few weeks. I broke my promise I made you; I said I'd always be there for you and I left you for Tori, I abandoned you. You mean a lot to me Cat, so damn much; you're my best friend and I hate the fact that I've made you upset. What happened that one day in school…that blew way out of proportion and I can't stress the fact enough that I'm sorry. It kills me every time we pass each other in the hallways and don't talk to each other, barely even look at each other in class, sit at different tables at lunch…

I miss covering songs with you like we used to last year, going to fairs and winning you stuffed giraffes. Our friendship means to much to me to let it go girl, 'specially not like this." He exhaled deeply when he finished, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, ramming against his ribcage in furious pumps.

She stared at him for a while, her eyes lingering on his lips for a split moment before finally meeting his eyes. Her own were beginning to water, chocolate irises glossy and bearing distress. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner? That you were sorry."

"Because I wasn't sure how to put it, how to say it. You're my Little Red, I got to say it right," Andre said sheepishly, wanting nothing more than to hug her. "Can you please forgive me?"

"I mean I guess I can…you mean a lot to me too, Dre, more than you know." She whispered, "I won't forget this tho-"

He had no idea why he did it, but he made another mistake – he stared into her eyes, and to her lips as she spoke.

Without a second thought he grabbed her into his arms and crashed his lips to hers.

* * *

><p><strong>Would just like to say that I'm really sorry I haven't updated in forever and I hope I didn't lose any readers! I'll try to get the next chapter up before Thanksgiving! <strong>

**Thank you all very much for your reviews though and again I'm really sorry that I haven't updated lately! I had some major writers block for this story and I was working on Catastrophic (if you haven't read that, it's the sequel to A Lost Hope and you should check it out!) most of the time and been busy doing other stuff outside of fanfiction; mainly school since they're packing us with work before the short break. Anywho, I could express my love and appreciation to you all for everything but I don't want to make this super long, so I will by shouting to the world that I love you.**

**Here goes.**

**I LOVE YOU ALL SOSOSO MUCH IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY. You guys are like the toast to my butter. Oh wait, said that wrong – ****the butter to my toast****. That's what you all are. *insert infinite amount of hearts here***

**Digidestend Angel:** Congratulations on your baby boy once again and thank you so much for your reviews! They mean so much to me you have no idea – I'm a big fan of your stories (sorry for the lack of reviews lately!), so I bet you can understand it's kind of a big deal when you favorite, story alert and review. Hehe:) Much love!  
><em><strong>*By the way, readers, if you haven't read her stories you should seriously consider! No, not even consider. Read them, trust me, you won't be disappointed AT ALL. Seriously amazing story writer right there, guys. Not even joking.*<strong>_

_Sneak Peek  
><em>_*****__My Russian may not be right – using a translator :P Translation in __**bold-italics.**_

"_Katerina? __**'Caterina?'**_" Her mother asked her quietly, speaking fluent, smooth Russian as she slowly sank down upon her daughter's mattress. Her brow was furrowed in confusion as to why Cat was crying – any other emotion was guarded fairly well, and she couldn't tell, especially not through tear filled eyes, what else she was feeling.

"Mamoi, '_**mommy**_**'**" Cat whimpered as she clung onto the older woman, she too speaking her native language just as quietly as she, "_Ya…ya dolzhen skazatʹ tebe koe-chto_. _**'I..I need to tell you something'**_"


	10. Honesty? What's that?

_***The preview for the previous chapter has been discarded for now. Happy reading!**_

_**Chapter Ten  
><strong>__Honesty? What's That?_

Cat Valentine had a thing with profusely apologizing, and if there was one thing she hated more than anything else, it was having to say sorry, or having to hear the word.

But in a totally, non-selfish way.

Hate wasn't exactly in her vocabulary – all things considered, it was a very mean word Jade used far too often – but she assumed that "dislike" served the same purpose and either word would have sufficed just as fine as the other, and would have gotten her point across all the same. Still, even when she had absolutely no reason to apologize she felt the need she should and the words poured from her mouth without a second thought of it.

And so, when Andre Harris – who she may add, was the boy she was hopelessly in love with – pulled away after their ravenous kiss that felt too right for words, her insides churned and dropped when he uttered the words "Cat! I-I'm so sorry, that shouldn't have happened. I didn't mean to do that." It was like a slap in the face, igniting the fresh tears to form and threaten to spill and cascade down flushed red cheeks. Their kiss was something she had been waiting for ever since she had discovered these dark feelings for him years back; his lips tasted like honey and everything sweet, and it lingered upon her lips, her tongue and she swore that she was in heaven. When they pulled away, both panting and out of breath, she was back in reality; in Hell. But when he had muttered those very words, she had never felt so low in her entire life, save for the incident several weeks ago.

"I swear Cat, that was a mistake." He panicked as he backed away from her, nearly toppling off of her front porch as he backed near the stairs, only catching himself with the railing. His wonkiness was his worst proven weakness, he decided, someday he'll end up with a draconian injury because of it.

"But why?" She asked, vulnerability clear in her voice as she attempted to strongly stare him down, and ultimately failing. "Why did you kiss me if you knew it was a mistake? That doesn't make any sense, unless…"

"No, there's no unless – I don't know why I did it," Said Andre with a furrowed brow and a deep inhale, "we should just forget that ever happened okay? Yeah, just forget it, because if Tori finds out then things will get way out of proportion."

"Forget it ever happened?" She questioned him, jaw slackened and lips parted in disbelief; her tone was unusually sharp, "you expect me to just forget that the boy that I'm in love with just kissed me?" At his expression, only then did she realize what she had said, and he eyes grew wide in her far too late discovery. Attempting to stay strong, knowing full well that she was unable to cover up her mistake, she drew in an ample inhale and backed into her front door, her hand working at the knob and slowly opening it from behind.

"Cat…"

"I think you should leave, Andre." The young redhead whispered as she entered her own house, hand tightening on the metal door knob as though it acted as a lifeline, the only thing that would keep her from lashing out and having a mental breakdown, something that nowadays, she could no longer control.

"Wait!" He said, pressing his palm against the door and pushing it open just as she was about to completely close it. Baffled, she stumbled back a bit, her stomach tying itself knots out of pure instinct. "I won't go until you repeat what you just said."

"I said I think you should leave, Andre."

"The other thing!"

"You already heard me; what's the point of me repeating it?" She asked him, attempting to keep her voice quiet as to not wake up anybody sleeping inside the house, but it was near impossible to talk low, all things considered, her anger was steadily increasing and therefore, making it harder for her to calm down. "And if I do repeat it, what would you do? Nothing – because you're with Tori, you'll never feel the same way and I'll always be considered just a friend. Or maybe, if you decide to be a complete jerk off, we won't even be friends anymore because it would be too awkward for you. Everything between us, you helping me, our friendship, won't mean anything to you like they do to me."

"But you don't know that Cat," Andre retorted, his voice considerably low given the circumstances, "you'll always be my best friend, you know that. I'm with Tori, and I really like her, but there's something between me and you that I can't ignore. That kiss _was_ a mistake, I didn't mean it, and I regret it but-"

"Bye, Andre."

Cat slammed the door in his face, and, unbeknownst the him, pressed her back against the wooden slate and cascaded down it until her bottom hit the carpeted floor, sobs racking her petite body. And just when she thought she couldn't sink any lower, she hit rock bottom and made her way upstairs for her razor.

However, unbeknownst to_ her_...

Andre was lying.

* * *

><p><strong>First of all I'd like to apologize in my lack of updating! I probably lost a few reviewers…hopefully not, but I probably did. For those who stuck around, I love you! :D And I would also like to apologize of how incredibly short this was (not even 1,000 words! My goodness...). It's near impossible to write with major writer's block. You can call this a filler. -_- I'm hoping I can get a legit chapter up before Monday! <strong>

**So to solve my writer's block that I've been encountering for the past couple months, I've been working on two new stories that have been keeping me busy. I'm only going to publish one for right now but they're definitely both going to be uploaded if you guys want me too. They're going to both be horror – with violence, some romance, angst, tragedy and all that jazz that's usually in my all of my stories, and the ratings may go higher than T at some point due to all the gore that might be added. I don't know if any of you will bother reading them because that kind of stuff may not be your genre to read, but if you do, please post your opinions on which one I should upload first! **

**Here are the summaries:**

**1. Fear No Evil - **Kidnapped by a sick, psychotic madman for a traumatizing experiment, the gang must overcome their fears if they wish to save each other, and themselves.__

**2. Nihilism - **Hollywood Arts is the subject of a major terrorist attack because of its large number of students; trapped in the gym for five days, with little food and water, will the gang make it?

**Leave your opinions on which one you would want to read (I'll be making a poll soon)! There won't be any major pairings beside Bade, but there will be subtle hints. Hehe.**

**And also; Thank you all for your reviews, they mean a lot, and keep them coming guys :) they make my day! **


	11. The Deep End

**Chapter Eleven;  
><strong>_the Deep End_

_Raped. You're a _whore.

_**Slash**__._

_Heartbroken by the same guy too many times to keep track of._

_**Slice.**_

_Treated like a freak of nature._

_**Swipe.**_

With crimson stained, horrendously trembling pale hands Cat held the blade of her knife over her damaged wrist, pressing the point of her weapon to its final position, vertically, straight along the veins of her forearm. Tears clouded her vision, fogging the once bright chocolate brown irises and making it very hard to see what she was doing – droplets cascaded down flushed cheekbones like mini waterfalls, broken sobs eliciting from lightly parted, pink lips. Four days had passed since Andre's surprise visit, and during the course of those painful 95 hours they had not said a word to each other. Sitting at different lunch tables, avoiding eye contact and she, going all the way, managed to switch partners in her singing class so she wouldn't have to bother saying a word to him ever again. It was complete torture; she didn't bother to hide her despair.

And the worst part? He didn't seem to care at all. Of course she knew that she may not have been right about that, because she knew for a fact that not all guys liked to show their emotions so publicly like girls did. Cat didn't; she had been managing to hide them all of her life (despite when she was so mercilessly raped not too long ago – that was when her mask fell down), but she had felt no energy left to even bother anymore. It was like it was completely impossible for her to hide whatever she was feeling and push her horrid, depressing thoughts to the back of her mind.

If anyone knew Cat, they'd know that she had her mental breakdowns time and time again, but they could always be cured with a gentle hug and some ice cream. Ever since she had been raped that had not been the case. But now, this was no mental breakdown, this was one of great proportion. One where she was locked up in her bathroom, home alone, sobbing her heart out with a knife pressed against her trembling wrist, ready to take her life at any moment. It was everything piling up upon her shoulders, pressing down as though with the weight of the world – and she couldn't take it anymore. Never had she imagined she would take her life so mercilessly; hell, she would have never imagined harming herself in this way at all, even under any circumstances. It was unfathomable. And to think she was doing so, only high off of adrenaline, was near unbelievable.

No one was home, there was no one to stop her, and no one was going to be home for quite some time to stop her. She would already be dead by the time they even got back into Hollywood. And she doubted that any of them, maybe beside her brother, would care that she had taken her life in her own hands, literally, and ended it without a single goodbye. Save for the note for Jade, Tori, Robbie, Beck and her brother that resided upon her large pink comforter in the room beside the one she was currently sitting within. There was a note for Andre, yes (a rather long note, she might add) but she had slipped it in his locker when he left after school so no one else could read it. He would get it tomorrow morning.

By then, she'd already be gone.

Fearing she has waited far too long, Cat Valentine carved the final wound that would end her life.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Meanwhile<strong>_

Tori Vega was livid. Not only was there a horrible knot tying within her flat stomach, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but she hadn't seen Andre all day long. For the past couple of days he had been avoiding her like a plague, only talking to her for a moment or so, pecking her lips just barely with his own, before zooming off in the opposite direction. She hadn't seen him this wonky since an incident she'd rather not recall, and based upon her own instinct she suspected something was going on that he, nor her friends (if they knew), were telling her. In fact, Andre's mother had called her a few nights ago asking if her eldest son was still at her house – her answer had of course been no – before telling her that he was still not home. Of course she had gotten worried, especially when none of her calls were received. And, to make her suspicions rise, Cat, Jade and Beck had resorted in sitting at a different lunch table than the usual. Rotten glares from both Jade and the smaller redhead, which earnestly surprised Tori, bore into the back of her head like sharp knives. Only the Goth had sense to actually say something to her face.

But then again, when did she not say anything rude to her face? It was like a must on her to-do-list, if one even existed in that of Jade West's life. She doubted those odds, but who really knew.

Determined to discover what was going on, if it was the last thing she did, she marched into the music room within their precious high school with her arms crossed over each other and glared at the musician composing upon one of the grand keyboards set up in the middle of the room. He was startled as the door clicked shut, rather loudly, behind her, and turned around with brown eyes round in surprise. "T-Tori! Wow, uh, you scared me there. I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry" She apologized coolly, brows furrowing as she narrowed her eyes, "but I'm here to put an end to this wonk!"

"What wonk, babe?" He asked her as he slowly rose from his recumbent stance upon the leather chair before the keyboard he was recently playing, swallowing thickly. He did not like the sound of this. "There is no wonk here, see, no wonk!"

"Andre, I'm done playing these games. Be the man that you're supposed to be and tell me the honest truth…" Tori paused, gauging his reaction as he stood nervously, some feet away from her. She could feel her anger rising, boiling within her veins – because if it was one thing that this Latina despised, it was being lied to. Normally she could control her anger, but she was done with being in the dark; at least though, she concluded to herself, she wouldn't take drastic measures like Jade might have. "Where were you after you left my house the other night?"

"Oh, um, the other night?"

"Yes. Please, Dre, don't lie to me. We built this relationship off of our friendship and we promised we'd always be honest with each other." She said as she took a step closer, "my Tori Vega-wrath will be ten times worse if I find out what exactly you're hiding, rather than you just straight up telling me. It makes me feel like you're responsible enough."

"Responsible enough? What am I supposed to be responsible for – our relationship? Tor, a relationship isn't built strictly on responsibility. I thought you would know that, by now at least." Said Andre, gaining a little bit of courage.

"I do know that! It's built on trust and friendship and contentment!" Tori fired back, "but how can you expect me to trust you when I know for a fact that you're hiding something from me, Andre?"

He said nothing in response, and her perturbation confirmed.

"Great, are you telling me that I _can't_?"

"Tori I didn't say that," He attempted to reason, but she held up a slim hand to stop him.

"You didn't _say anything_!"

"Listen!" Andre bellowed, finally loosing himself in his boiling anger – she could very much see it in his eyes, and for some reason, as she held his stare, her heart faltered. "Where was I Saturday night? After I left your house, I went to Cat's! I don't know why the hell I went there in the first place, but it could be something to do that I've been helping her Tori! I've been helping her deal with everything – drugs, her parents always arguing, her being raped the night after Keenan's party! And I know it was wrong to go without telling you, and I know it was wrong to kiss her that night too but I just couldn't help myself Tor..I couldn't help myself, and I don't know why. Really, a part of me thinks that I've been avoiding you because I just don't know how I feel anymore. About us, about me and Cat, about everything. My views changed, nothing is the same."

And if Tori's jaw wasn't hitting the floor the moment he started speaking, it surely was now. She stood, routed to the spot as she attempted to process everything that had been said – no, shouted – to her. Part of her wanted to believe that everything he had just said was a lie, but another part of her couldn't bring herself to think such a conclusion further. He had just bellowed out that one of her best friends had been raped, and has been doing drugs behind everyone's backs (really, everyone's? Who else knew beside Andre; Jade surely…Beck?), and had just admitted to kissing her the night that things had started acting weird between the two of them. She really should have known that something happened; the two were close friends from what she had seen, and now they acted like two strangers who don't even know each other's names, or that the other existed.

Clearing her throat, a sting vaguely prodding at her eyes as she fought back tears, she finally gained the composure to respond to her boyfriend, if she could even call him that now. "Why…why didn't anyone tell me any of this?"

"Because it wasn't meant to be told," Andre said, exasperated, as he sank back into the chair he once sat, "Tori, I'm so sorry…but…"

"I don't want apologies, Dre," she said softly, exhaling heavily through her parted lips, "I just need one more answer. That's all."

"Well now that everything's out in the open…Sure."

"You and Cat…there's obviously something going on. Something that isn't going on between me and you and I doubt it ever will, despite what I may want." Tori explained, taking another few steps and grabbing his larger hands in her own; he squeezed them lightly, but the physical contact didn't feel the same as it had a couple days, weeks, before. "Do you love her?"

"There is something there, you're right. But I think…" He hesitated, averting his eyes from hers, "I think that I'm starting to fall in love with her. I just don't want you to be hurt, 'cause trust me girl that was never my intentions. I promise."

"I guess that settles it then," Tori bit her lip and released his hands, adjusting her satchel upon her slim shoulder and backing up toward the door, "I hope that we can still be friends, you mean too much to me to lose. Well…friend-wise, I guess I should say huh?"

"Goodbye Tori." Murmured Andre, albeit it wasn't a goodbye that meant he would no longer see her again – it was a goodbye to their relationship, and their close companionship that they once had before.

"Bye, Andre."

And without another word she exited the music room, attempting to ignore the lump in her throat, and made her way to Cat's house.

She needed to have a word with that one.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! I've finally updated after many many weeks of not doing so…So, I apologize for the extremely long wait. Midterms have been absolutely killing me – we have to do projects instead of tests now, and you can imagine how stressful it is to have all of your classes, including electives, pile up projects that are due in one week is. It's freaking me out, so when I finished my French one, I decided to take a break and start writing this up. And it doesn't help that I just recently got into a pretty bad car crash – and with a totaled car, a hospital ridden best friend (who is being released in a tomorrow morning :D), and bruised ribs, it hasn't been the best couple days of my life. But I managed to find sometime reading and writing up some of my stories. Which by the way, I've added a new one to the list on my profile. I'm really considering about uploading that one first because I have a really awesome plot line for it. I'm not sure yet though, I'll have to think about it and see what you guys think.<strong>

_**In Time **__**– (**__AU) An underground lab experiment has sent a deadly, airborne virus spiraling all about America and infecting those many; namely, the sick. Disease is spread by the infected, and shortly, it's gone viral – worldwide. A group of nine remain, fighting for their lives, surrounded by flesh eating creatures they once knew as humans. When a promising call that there is civilization and safety on the outskirts of Hawaii, they are determined to reach it. Figuring out a way to get there certainly won't be their only problem…  
><em>_***Summary will be shortened.**__**Not your typical "zombie apocalypse" story, I promise! :)**_

**I would add more to the summary but if I do it will give it all away. It's my first AU story, so…I hope it will be good enough for you guys if you chose to read it. The rating may be M though, depending on violence and everything else, so, just a fair warning and all. Oh, and I'm going to have a good majority of the chapters done before even uploading it onto the site, so I won't constantly leave you guys waiting and waiting and all that junk. I mentally kick myself for that lol.**

**Anywhoooo, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Be sure to leave a review and take a vote on the poll on my profile:)**


	12. Feeling Oh So Hopeless

_**Chapter Twelve;**__ Feeling Oh So Hopeless_

Tori arrived at the Valentine home relatively quickly. Granted, it was probably the farthest house from Hollywood Arts out of her entire group of friends, but with the very little traffic it was easy for the always cautious driver to get there. She parked just outside the driveway, absently noting that no one but Cat's car was parked outside as she stepped from her vehicle. "Maybe I shouldn't…" she murmured to herself as she made way to the front porch of the small home. She'd only been to her redheaded friend's house once when they had to work on their script for Mr. Gradstein's class; sure, the smaller girl wasn't exactly rich on terms – but it was nice, cozy.

Wiping her palms against the fabric of her skinny jeans she ceased her trek just outside the front door. Tori wasn't the best when it came to talking about certain situations such as this; she usually got herself in a heap load of drama and trouble whenever she did. But it needed to be done: it couldn't be ignored. Andre was no longer her boyfriend, though it would be quite some time until she finally got over those terms (considering she really liked him), but that didn't change the fact that what happened between him and Cat could be blown off as if it was nothing. They kissed while he was dating her, and that was not okay.

But then again she was being hypocritical; she supposed that was karma coming to get her – after all, Tori had kissed Danny right in front of Cat's face several months ago.

Finally mustering courage and composure Tori balled her hand into a fist and gently prodded it against the door, her other hand gripping at her cell phone just in case there would not have been an answer. And, as expected, there wasn't – thus, she knocked a little louder than before. Several minutes later, she was beginning to worry and tried again. Cat was home, she knew this only because of her car parked just in front of her own, and she could only come up with a few logical reasons as to why she wasn't answering the door. She could be listening to music, talking on the phone, taking a shower…

Yet, Tori was worried regardless because Cat hadn't been acting herself lately, and after what she had been told (about the rape, the drugs, everything) anything was possible. Chewing upon her lower lip she squatted down and searched one of the potted plants beside the doorway; the redhead had told her that there was a spare key hidden there if she ever needed it. When her fingers had found it, roughly scraping against the sharp object, she jammed it within the door and cautiously walked into the dark house. No lights were on, but there was evidence she was home.

"Cat?" She called loudly, peeking her head around the archway in the living room and into the kitchen. Her eyes caught sight of the stairwell – and before she knew it, she was walking up them. "Cat, I know you're home. Please come out, wherever you are, we really need to talk…even though it's really creepy I kind of barged into your house." She sighed as she spoke, realizing that it was indeed, very odd she had taken liberty into walking into the small home regardless of the situation at hand. "Ca-" She paused; there was a light emitting from the bottom of the closed doorway that led into the upstairs bathroom.

She knocked on the door. No answer.

There was complete silence on the other side.

She tried for the doorknob.

When it opened…

Tori screamed.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes away within the interior of a fresh, immaculate RV, Beck and Jade lay atop of one another in a rather heated and bothered make-out session, unknowledgeable of the chaos at the Valentine's home. The Gothic girl straddling her boyfriends lap, legs wrapped around his, tugged anxiously at the collar of his shirt with graceful hands, ebony fingernails picking at the buttons whilst her lips mingled with his, their tongues in a familiar battle, or rather, a familiar dance for dominance. His hands ran up the length of her sides, the hem of her shirt exposing nearly half of her abdomen. And when they had only broken this kiss for air, off came her shirt, right over her head, leaving her in a black lace bra.<p>

Jade couldn't let herself be the only one missing an article of clothing, and less gently then he, she tugged his plaid over shirt off of his shoulders and promptly ripped the tight tank top off underneath. His toned olive complexioned muscles were rock solid beneath her eager fingers, and she leaned over, pressing herself against him and trailing slow, seductive kisses down his torso, nearing close to his belt buckle…

Albeit they were rather occupied, the blaring of Beck's cell phone pierced the otherwise silent air of the RV like thick iron blades; annoyingly boisterous and repetitive. Jade growled and held him firm against the couch as he made reluctant move to get it, hands working at his belt and lips moving against his tanned skin, "leave it." She snarled, and he did as he was told without even a seconds hesitation, just as eager as she. The ringing continued on. And on…and on, until finally it had went to his voicemail, and the embraced couple were left in peace. Jade had just begun to slide his boxers down when her own cell phone started to ring, and the sound of death metal broke them from their reverie.

"Maybe," Beck said breathlessly as she glared up at him, "it's something important. It could be Andre, or Cat and they may need us…you know?" He offered, and she flipped her hair back, ungracefully sliding off of him. She ran a hand through light brunette curls and snatched her phone off of the table, glancing at the caller I.D: '_Gank_.' With a groan she pressed ignore, however she was greeted with several unread text messages – 10, to be precise – and before she even had the chance to put her phone down, again, it begun to ring, and Jade was severely tempted to chuck it against the wall until it shattered.

"_What_, Vega, could you possibly want right now?" She seethed, her hand tightening around her phone as she finally answered the call. _Nobody_ interrupted her and Beck's 'sexy-time.'

There was a lot of screaming, and there was a lot of crying on the other line that made Jade falter. She cast a glance at her boyfriend, who had sat up and was currently running a hand through locks of ebony hair, and furrowed her brow. "Calm your waz, Vega, because I can't understand a word you're saying and I don't think that's going to help anything." She deadpanned, although she could not help the feeling of concern race through her veins like white fire.

"_It's-it's oh God, it's Cat! Y-you have to get to the hospital right now!_" Tori screeched on the other line, in complete hysterics; it was a little hard to understand her still and took her a while to comprehend, but once she had Jade was already racing to find her discarded shirt.

"Hospi-what? What the hell happened?" It was a struggle to put her shirt on while on the phone, so she clutched it within her palm, waiting impatiently for the answer – she'll have plenty of time putting it on while racing out the door.

"_Please, just please come to the hospital, I'll explain when you're here. I can't get in touch with Robbie, Andre or Beck_-"

"Beck's with me, we'll be there in a few."

"_Oh,_" it may not have been a good time to be embarrassed, but Jade could practically sense in from the receiver, and she knew that Tori must have caught on to what she meant when she explained that she and her boyfriend were together. "_I'll be in the lobby, they won't let me see her yet because I'm not a family member and she's not even awake and..oh God. Just hurry!_"

Feeling that there was no need at all to respond to that, the Goth hung up the phone, pocketed it within her jeans and hurriedly poised herself so she was not as bed ridden as she had been beforehand after hastily putting on her shirt and leather jacket. Beck must have gotten the memo whilst she and Tori were on the phone and was already apt by the door of his RV, the keys to his truck swinging ungraciously around his index finger as she waited. He guised concerned, brow furrowed, but did not ask any questions until they were on the highway, Jade keeping quiet with her complexion unnaturally pale.

"What's going on, babe?" He asked her quietly, side-glancing over at his girlfriend of just over two years, but only just for a second or so. He was keeping his eyes steady on the road otherwise as to avoid the two of them getting rooms for their injuries in the hospital in which they were currently on their way too – after all, he was driving a little bit over the speed limit, if he was being completely honest.

"Just keep driving."

He did.

**Blah, we'll get to them visiting Cat in the hospital, and her condition in the upcoming chapter, so I guess you can kind of call this a filler. I've wanted to update because I haven't in such a long time, and everything. Also, I added a little Bade in there because of last night's episode, which I'm pretty upset about btw. :\ Oh well, they'll get back together eventually…**

***Notice; this would have been updated sooner if FF wasn't being a jerk. -_-**

**Thank you to all who reviewed! Keep it up, and I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long!**


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